Hatred Games
by Nonnimus
Summary: Someone seems to be pursuing the Hardys at the start of a new school term. Who is it, and why? And a week after their van was blown up, Frank gets kidnapped...
1. The first morning

_Hi, we're attempting to write our first fanfic here.. So please read and review and give us any pointers that you think we might need. Thanks._

– _meta and scrawler._

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Chapter 1:

"It's time to wake, Frank. You'll be late for school!"

Frank gave a small groan and rolled over in his sleep. His mother, Laura, tapped him lightly again.

"Don't feel… like going to school today," he mumbled half asleep, his eyes still shut.

His mother felt his head for a temperature. "Don't you feel alright, dear?" she asked. Her voice was beginning to sound concerned. It was not often, (in fact, hardly ever) that Frank did not want to go to school. He was all along a conscientious student, and usually woke up early enough for school, with even time to spare. It was his younger brother Joe who usually refused to budge from his bed in the mornings, not Frank.

Then she sighed. "Frank, I know this is difficult, but…"

Frank got up reluctantly, shrugging the bed clothes off. "I'm fine, Mom," he assured his mother. "Just feeling lazy." He managed a wan smile and made his way to the bathroom.

He turned on the tap and splashed some cold water on his face. Sigh, it was only the first week of school, and he was already dreading it. He wondered how he was going to last the whole term.

A year ago Frank Hardy was an enthusiastic young student looking forward to his high school graduation. At the end of the term, all were dashed, and his life crumbled before him. He did not manage to complete his high school examinations, and was now forced to repeat his final year along with Joe who was a year younger. It had been a terrible letdown to a lot of people, who had been expecting him to ace his examinations. He closed his eyes, as he remembered everything that had happened in the past one year.

A mystery that he and Joe had been working on near the end of the year had left him severely ill. Too weak to attend school for a whole month, he had missed his final exam papers. Of course, he did try to make it to his first two papers, only to collapse from exhaustion at the end of the day. Needless to say, he was placed back in hospital, and the doctor restrained him from going back to school for any more papers. Not that it make much difference, actually, whether he sat for them or not. His mind was fuzzy then, and he neither been able to concentrate on the questions nor remember the answers. He would probably have failed anyway.

Even after he was discharged from the hospital a week later, Doctor Bates had ordered a complete month of bedrest, So, he didn't get the chance to make up his papers…

His parents were understanding, and did not blame him, but Callie certainly did. Callie! The girl he had so dearly loved… _once_ upon a time. A year his junior and a classmate of Joe's, she had been his perfect date all through high school, but it was all over now. A stab of pain burned in his heart as visions of the blonde, brown-eyed girl now holding hands with Steve Taylor flashed through his mind. He had heard that the two had grown close during the holidays. He could not blame them, however, though he did feel some resentment. After all, Steve was there for her when she cried over him after they broke up. He cringed, remembering her angered voice during their last fight. Two days after he missed her junior prom – since he was confined to bedrest – she had come over, supposedly to talk things through, though they ended up yelling at each other for most of the conversation.

"_You should have known better to take on a case like that when your finals are so near! I'm disappointed in you, Frank! A lot of people are disappointed in you!"_

"_Yes, it's always Joe. I always thought it's bad enough that he takes precedence over me. I didn't know that you let him takes precedence over your own future too!"_

"_And it was a blatant, outright lie, Frank! You told me it was your Dad who called. That you needed to run an errand for him! You didn't tell me that it's all about Joe! Or Belinda!"_

The case involved Joe's life, he had argued back, defensively. And he was involved in the case not because he had to, but because he needed to, and wanted to. Not only Joe was his younger brother, but also his pillar of strength, his loyal confidante and best friend. Joe really meant a lot to him. Besides, the only reason why Joe was abducted was because he had to drive home alone after their dinner that night. All because the big brother chose to go for a movie date with his girlfriend. How could he be so irresponsible to not involve himself in this case?

He didn't have any excuses for lying to her though, apart from the fact that the kidnappers had threatened to kill Joe if he told. But then again, he felt that she should have shown a little more understanding. After all, he had never told anyone, apart from Joe, every single truth about his cases, not even to his dad sometimes.

But it was true that many people were somewhat disappointed in him, especially his teachers. He had been a straight-As student all along, and no one had expected him to fail any of his papers, let alone repeat the grade. Especially Callie, she had called the whole thing disgraceful. But he could not see in any way how this could be helped. After all, his brother's life was more important than some grades on a piece of paper. But Callie had blamed him, and she blamed Joe too. It wasn't Joe's fault, and it was his own future that he had messed up, not hers, he had argued back – only to realize that it was quite the wrong thing to say when she whirled on him. Bitingly thanking him for making it clear that she had no part in his future, Callie had stormed out of the room and out of the house. And she had been furious ever since…

If only… sigh… if only he had not let his brother drive home alone that night. But it's all too late now. The past is over. At least, Joe was safe. He must now make full use of the present, and concentrate on graduating this year. Looking straight into his own deep brown eyes in the mirror, he drew a deep breath, making a silent resolve to complete his high school education this year. The only problem was that, he would be in the same grade as a bunch of juniors, and that would mean he would be in the same class as Steve and Callie too. He dreaded the mere thought of seeing her and Steve in class together. Oh well, she and Steve would make a pretty good match. He considered Callie one of the prettiest girls he had ever met, and Steve was indeed a good looking guy, with his handsome features and a charming smile to match, good in sports and in his studies too. His jaw broke into a wry smile in spite of himself. It was ironic that he was silently wishing them the best.

Deep down inside, though – Frank knew that the case wasn't the sole reason why Callie broke up with him. They had been arguing more and more lately over the past few months; and there had been subtle hints that Callie had developed some other interests – how could he have ignored it? Those sneaking glances; and that wistful smile whenever her gaze rested on Steve. Callie had even accepted a ride from Steve once, when Frank had to run off on an errand for his father. Yes, Frank somewhat knew that his girlfriend had a crush on that guy. But had been very busy with his cases lately, and rarely had time for her…

So he had lost her… and man, did it hurt…

Oh, never mind. Joe will be there, he consoled himself. At least, that was one comforting thought. Strengthened by the mere thought of his brother, he ran his hand through his dark brown hair and sighed. He would get through all these mess somehow.

Joe was almost finishing his breakfast when he came down. "You're late," he said, flashing his blue eyes triumphantly at Frank. Six foot tall and an inch shorter than Frank, Joe bore a close resemblance of his mother with his bright blue eyes and light blond hair – a complete contrast to his dark-haired, brown-eyed brother Frank, who took after their father in his looks. "Fancy Frank Hardy oversleeping! This is a solid proof that miracles _do_ happen!" the younger Hardy grinned.

Frank gave his brother a light cuff for his cheek, and buttered himself a toast. He swallowed it in three big gulps, knowing that they were already running late. Joe had already finished breakfast, and was standing there, impatiently waiting for him.

"Race you to the van, Frank!" Joe chirped as Frank swallowed his last morsel, and did a mad rush towards the door. Frank groaned, but dashed after his brother all the same, almost tripping over the rug in the hall on his way out.

Their mother shook her head. "Have a good day in school!" she called after them, as Joe backed the van out of the drive. "Drive safely, and DON'T speed!"

Despite the slightly heavy traffic, it was a lovely drive to school. The trees were still wet from last night's rain, and the sun shone brightly from the cloudless sky. Even Frank, in his gloomy mood, felt his heart lighten as they drove. Joe was in good spirits too, humming along with the radio and drumming his fingers endlessly to the beat, till he almost swerved into the ditch when a cat ran across their path.

"Blow! Just a little late and there's no more space," Joe mused as he rounded the van through the school parking lot. Oh, well, might as just well, he sang, as he swung the van into a corner space next to a low red car. It was not a proper parking spot where they parked. The proper spaces had ended where the red car was, but since it did not obstruct anyone, they didn't bother. After all, there was nothing much they could do as there was no more space.

And up they went, towards the school building to find their friends, unaware that someone was watching them as they left.


	2. The new girl

_Thanks for the reviews, peepz! We wanted to update as soon as we could, but we had some trouble figuring out how to add chapters to the story. (pardon our ignorance, but we have not been in this website for that long.. ) _

_Btw, we don't own Katie._

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Chapter 2:

Seventeen-year-old Katie Ryan trotted up the gray stone steps of Bayport High, looking eagerly all around. It was her first day at Bayport High, having just moved to Bayport during the recent holidays. She glanced at the din around. Voices floated in the hallway as students chatted nineteen to the dozen in their little groups, catching up with one another after the long holidays. She suddenly felt a little lost.

Not a bad school, she thought approvingly. Now, my classroom…

"May I help you?" a voice sounded on her right. She turned to see a fair haired guy speaking to her.

Joe Hardy had been scanning the crowds rapidly for his girlfriend Vanessa when he noticed the pretty blonde finding her way around, looking a little lost. He sized her up to be a new girl, so he went up to her.

"This school is huge," he said, giving her a friendly smile. "Are you lost?"

"Umm, yeah," replied the girl, smiling up at him, and looking a little sheepish. "Today's my first day here. I guess I _am_ lost. I need to find Room 12A."

Joe raised his brows. _Room 12A?_ _Hey, that's my classroom too!_ He could hardly believe that this petite girl was in his class, and a senior too! He had assumed her to be a freshman or at least a sophomore. With her butter-blonde hair and laughing blue eyes, she was cute – almost in a kid-sister kind-of-way. Joe caught sight of her sheepish face and immediately liked the look of her. She's really small – almost dainty, Joe thought, as he noticed that she only came up to his shoulder. _And geez, her eyes are bluer than mine! _He decided to flirt with her a little.

"Room 12A? You are on the wrong side of the building," he told her with a straight face. He pointed to a stairway slightly to the left around the corridor. "See the stairs there? Go up it, walk to the left until the end of the corridor and take the turn. Walk ten steps towards your right, do a full three-hundred-and-sixty- degrees spin and you'll be there."

Katie's eyes widened before she broke into an amused grin. "Are you pulling my leg?"

"I don't think so," Joe grinned back, saying. "Do you feel any taller?" The girl laughed.

"It's the third door on your… "

A familiar voice interrupted him before he could finish. _"Joe!" _called Vanessa, hurrying up to them. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Hey babe," he replied, slipping an arm around Vanessa's waist, but the tall, ash-blonde beauty appeared not to hear him. Her blue-gray eyes widened in surprise when she saw the pint-sized girl Joe had been talking with, and she stepped forward.

"Katie?" she cried in disbelief. "Whatever in the world are you doing here?"

Katie was just as surprised to see Vanessa. They had been close friends when they were in school back in Maryland, before either of them had come to Bayport "Oh Van! It's so great to see you!" she cried, throwing Vanessa a hug. "I never thought I'd meet you here!"

"So…. I say, Kate, you've met Joe already?" Vanessa asked.

"His name is Joe?" asked Katie, somewhat blankly, suddenly realizing that she still did not know the guy's name. "Okay," she confessed. "I didn't get his name. He was just giving me directions to my classroom." Vanessa snorted. She didn't exactly trust Joe's directions. She had no doubt that Joe's directions would land her friend in the right place, but being his girlfriend, she knew Joe was probably flirting with the new girl, and his directions probably sounded ridiculous.

Vanessa introduced them, and then dragged Katie's arm towards the stairway that Joe pointed earlier. "See you in a bit!" she called to Joe. "Come on, I'll show you around."

"So what brings you here?" Vanessa queried, as she and Katie walked around the school.

"Dad moved his work to Bayport. He's accepted a position in Bayport University."

Katie was longing to hear Vanessa's news too, so Vanessa told Katie how she moved to Manhattan before finally coming to Bayport. The two girls continued talking, catching up on each other's news, as they made their way around the school.

_- xx-_

_okay, so we've added a character. But although we developed her character and personality, we don't own her. We just 'borrowed' her from somewhere (a little crossover) :)_

_Hm, we won't let her end up with Frank if you don't want us to. But then again, who's to say? We have twisted minds. Till the next chapter!_


	3. The first lesson

_No. We don't own Belinda, and we don't own the monster crush either. They are all stolen from the Undercover Brothers series._

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Chapter 3:

Joe had gone to look for Frank after the girls had wandered off. He found his brother in the classroom already, chatting with Biff Hooper. Three of their other friends, Tony Prito, Phil Cohen and Perry 'Slim' Robinson, had graduated from Bayport High last year and gone to college, being Frank's age. Joe took the seat on his brother's left and saved a seat for Vanessa. No, better make it two, he thought. Vanessa would probably want a seat for Katie as well. Just then, another friend of theirs, Chet Morton, came in to the room and sat down in the seat next to Vanessa's empty one. Joe poked the stout boy with his pen.

"Move over," he told Chet, but his friend only shrugged.

"It doesn't make a difference. Jerry can sit next to me here. Or he can sit next to Biff on the other side."

"I'm saving two seats."

"Whatever for?" Chet asked nonchalantly. "Callie's not sitting with us. She's sitting with…"He stopped abruptly in mid-sentence, suddenly realizing that Frank was with them. Biff shot over a warning glance. Chet swallowed.

Frank gave an exasperated sigh. "What's the matter with you guys? Go on, say it," he challenged them. "She's sitting with Steve. What's so wrong with that?" His friends looked at one another, unsure of what to say.

"So, who's sitting with us?" Chet hissed. "Belinda?" Joe coughed. Belinda Conrad was a schoolmate of theirs who once had a monster crush on Frank and their last case involved her kidnapping. While working on the case, Joe was abducted by the people who kidnapped her, and subsequently, Frank was almost killed trying to rescue _both_ Joe and Belinda, and missed his exams as a result. It was partly why Callie got so furious about the case, especially when she learnt about that monster crush. She did not feel it justified that Frank should almost lose his life and messed up his future because of another girl. Not to mention the fact that he had lied to her about it…

A year ago, there was a girl named Holly Strand, who had made it no secret that she loved him. Then, there was Belinda who, more than once, tried to flirt with him in the hallways. Frank felt that he couldn't really fault Callie for being jealous…

"Don't be daft," Joe hissed back. "Belinda isn't in this class." Then he switched back to his normal voice. "What's our first subject? English?" he asked. Frank smiled rather languidly. It was obvious that his brother was trying to change the subject. Almost all of them had their History books on their tables by now.

"You alright, Frank?" He thought Frank still looked a bit subdued.

"Yeah," Frank nodded. "As right as rain." Joe shot him a disbelieving look. No, you're not alright, big brother. Even the blind can see that you're not.

Just then, Callie walked into the room with Steve Taylor, hand in hand. Callie looked slightly awkward when she saw Frank. Steve gave a friendly smile, which faded instantly when Joe shot him a death glare. Together, they chose some desks slightly down in front. Frank felt a stab of agony in his heart. He felt like leaving the room immediately, but he held himself, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. Groaning inwardly, he shifted his attention to his book. He was not making a good show in pretending to study, he knew, but he had no choice. He just had to keep his eyes off them.

The class soon swung into a full motion, with Mr. Wilson's voice booming from the front.

Frank was still rather silent. The first ten minutes of the class was a torment to his already depressed mind. He had a clear view of Steve and Callie from where he was seated, though he kept pretending not to see them. He tried his best to concentrate on the board, but he found his eyes kept wandering back to the couple. Finally, he looked down and channeled his mind on his book instead. Sensing his distress, Joe doodled on his brother's book to cheer him up.

"Stop it!" Frank hissed at his brother. "How do you expect us to concentrate if you kept doing this?" he said in a loud whisper.

Joe grinned and shrugged. He wrote something on his notepad. "Does it matter?" he scribbled. "You aren't concentrating anyway."

"I want to," Frank scribbled back.

Joe reached for the paper once more. "No one is, I think," he added.

Joe kept adding to the note. "Wilson is a terrible bore. I wonder how he became a teacher." He twirled his pen for a moment, and added a rude caricature of a bald-headed man with black rimmed glasses.

Frank choked down a grin that was beginning to show itself, trying to keep a straight face. Joe grinned back.

Frank looked at his brother gratefully. He felt much better now. Joe could be a tad ridiculous and idiotic at times, but he really knew how to lighten a somber mood. Many a time, Joe had stood by him and cheered him up when he was on the verge of breaking down, albeit through ridiculous jokes and teasing.

Frank scrawled a thanks. He was about to slide the note over to his brother, when Biff gave his chair a light kick. Mr. Wilson snatched the paper up before he could hide it. The teacher's eyes narrowed when he saw the offending remark.

"Wilson is a terrible bore. I wonder how he became a teacher," Mr. Wilson read aloud. The class broke into a loud guffaw, but the teacher's expression was stern. He narrowed his eyes on Frank.

"An hour detention after school, Hardy," he said coldly.

"But…" Frank began to protest, but stopped himself, as he realized that protesting would mean giving his brother away. Mr. Wilson looked at him sharply.

"You may have been an honored student, but you will get nowhere if you continue fooling around. I thought you should've learnt your lesson after last year." Mr. Wilson was a new teacher in the school, having only come to Bayport recently. He knew nothing of Frank's illness, nor of the Hardys' involvement in mysteries. He merely assumed that Frank's failure was due to lack of studying.

"And if you want to know, I consider that plain rudeness."

Frank reddened to his ears. Joe looked most apologetic. "I was the one who wrote that," he confessed to the teacher. "Not Frank."

"You can join your brother for an additional history lesson then. An hour after school. Both of you."

"Yes, Sir. But Frank…"

"It takes two to scribble notes. If you spend your History hour playing about, then you should spend an hour after school on History to make up for it. Does this make sense? Now, any more of these nonsense and you shall both leave the room."

The class fell silent. Joe looked indignant, but Mr. Wilson took no further notice and resumed teaching the class.

Right, thought Frank gloomily. Just my luck to get on my teacher's bad books on the first day. He debated whether to fool about a bit more or not. After all, he badly wanted to leave the room.

A knock sounded on the door and the secretary peered in. "Katie Ryan. She's a new girl in your class," the secretary informed the teacher, as she showed Katie in. After checking off her name in his register, Mr. Wilson nodded for her to sit down.

_-xx-_

_(shrugs) They were naughty to cheek Mr. Wilson. They deserved the detention._


	4. The detention

_Meta says: Alright, we can hear ppl asking: Where's the mystery?_

_Scrawler says: Good question. That reminds me: It's time to blow them up! Kaboom! (evil grin)_

_-xx-_

Chapter 4:

"An hour detention after school, Hardy," Joe said to Frank, mimicking the teacher's voice. The last bell had rung, and the students were leaving the room. "Detention on our first day! What a record!"

"Bad luck," Biff said sympathetically. "But really! I agree, Mr. Wilson must be the most awful teacher in Bayport High."

Jerry Gilroy let out a loud guffaw. "Wilson is a terrible bore. I wonder how he became a teacher." he mimicked. "Really, this is a classic. We should use it as a caption in our yearbook."

"Hey! It's not funny," Frank protested, and swatted Jerry lightly on the arm.

"Yeah! And he's giving us a test this week too!" Chet groaned. "Whoever heard of tests on the first week of school?"

Jerry shook his head gloomily. "I think I'm gonna to fail that test. I don't even know what he's talking about the whole lesson."

"Battle of the Ardennes. Also known as Battle of the Bulge," Katie prompted helpfully, and Frank smiled at her. She had gotten to know the 'gang' by now – Vanessa had introduced them between classes, and they rather liked her. Then again, Katie was an amiable, friendly girl, and got along with most people easily.

Biff shot her an incredulous look. "Wow! You mean you _were_ paying attention this morning? I thought no one did. Even Frank didn't. And you were late!"

Vanessa laughed. "Well, her dad is a history teacher. He writes history books."

"Hey! Are you guys coming?" Chet interrupted. "I'm hungry!"

Biff laughed. "You'll never win _your_ battle of the bulge if you keep eating like that!" he remarked as he hit Chet's tummy playfully. He turned to the others, Frank and Joe in particular. "We are meeting up with Phil and Tony at Mr. Pizza's, Call one of us when your detention is over. We may still be there. Or at least Tony will." Mr. Pizza was the name of a pizza parlor in Bayport mall where they loved to hang out, and where Tony regularly worked after school. "Hey Katie! Wanna join us?"

Katie shook her head lightly. "I'd love to, but I can't. I need to meet with the school counselor; she's expecting me about…,' She glanced at the clock on the classroom wall and grinned sheepishly. "… right now." Waving cheerfully, she bid her new friends goodbye and exited the room.

"Alright," Biff nodded. "We should go too. Enjoy your detention!" he called as Jerry slapped a hand on Frank's shoulder.

"I wonder what Phil will say when he hears that _Frank Hardy_'s in detention!"

Frank laughed and waved them off. Then he and Joe set off to see Mr. Wilson.

They were about half an hour into their homework when they heard a loud boom outside, followed by the sound of shattering glass. A slight tremor vibrated through the building as thick black clouds billowed into the sky above. A second explosion followed a few seconds later.

Sensing an emergency, Mr. Wilson hurriedly went out to check out the commotion. Frank and Joe leapt to the window in a trice.

They stared in a mix of horror and dismay, momentarily stunned by the sight. Thick dense smoke were rising from the far end of the school parking lot and flames could be seen leaping up from a burning wreckage. The Hardys' van, as well as the car next to them, were in the fiery blaze; one had probably caught the fire from the other. No one was seen about.

"Our… our van," Joe spluttered, turning a ghastly pale, as memories of a similar incident flooded his mind. The explosion… their convertible…. Bayport Mall… Iola… all that happened a couple years ago. His former girlfriend, Iola Morton, had died in that one. He shook himself, trying to relieve his mind from these horrible memories. Frank placed a protective arm on his brother's shoulder and ushered him away from the window.

They were stunned for a few moments, not knowing what to say. "W…was anyone in there?" Joe stuttered, finally breaking the silence. His voice was still shaking from the shock.

Frank did not answer. He had turned his head to the window again. He stared silently at the blazing vehicles, suddenly realizing that the bomb had probably been timed to blow them up on the way home. Had they not been in detention, they would probably have died.

_-xx-_

_Alright, mystery starting. Stay tuned. We'll build it up slowly until it ends._

_By the way, for you sadistic ones out there – if you have a particular preference of what you want to see happen to them, let us know. We'll try to work it in, tho we can't promise that we will be able to weave each and every suggestion into the story._


	5. The school grounds

_Thanks for the reviews, peepz! Here's another chapter._

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Chapter 5:

The school was rather chaotic when they came out. Students were lounging near the steps, talking about the blaze still furiously burning. Pushing their way through the crowd, the Hardys made their way out

Mr. Wilson came up to them at once. "Get back inside!" he ordered. "Students are to remain in the building. It's much too dangerous here."

But Frank and Joe brushed past him, heading towards the school parking lot to get a closer view. Together, they stood at the edge, staring at the burning wreckage which had been once their van. The smoke rose denser and blacker, the heat intensely scorching as the fire burned fiercely on. But that was all there was – heat, smoke and fire - apart from the cars safely parked on this side of the grounds.

Frank noted the wide gap between the blazing wreckage and the rest of the cars. A good thing that those cars had all left, he thought. Otherwise there might be more cars which might have caught the fire, and people hurt even. But it was fortunate that many of the students had left early, being the first day at school.

"Boys! What are you doing here?" Mr. Wilson's angry voice thundered behind them. "Do you want to be killed? Get back there at once!"

"But that was our van in the fire," Joe protested, although their teacher would not hear of it. Reluctantly, they walked back to the building, led by a firm Mr. Wilson.

Miss Parker, who was nearby, sighed and shook her head. "I should have known that the van belonged to you boys," she said. She had been their English teacher for the past one year, and knew all about their exploits in mysteries. "But there's nothing you can do now. We're waiting for the fire engine and the police to come."

"Whose car was the other one?" queried Frank instantly.

Miss Parker sighed. "It belongs to a new girl called Katie Ryan. All on her first day too, poor girl. We are still trying to contact her parents."

"Katie?" Frank and Joe echoed in unison.

"Tha… that's her car?" Joe gulped. "She… she wasn't at her car when it happened, was she?" stammered Joe, remembering what happened to Iola.

"Is she alright?" Frank questioned instantly.

Miss Parker sighed. "She's fine. It's a good thing she wasn't at the car. But she's badly shaken though. She was just coming out, and she saw the whole thing. A couple of the girls have her taken back to the building. Your homeroom teacher, Miss Thompson, is with them." Frank and Joe breathed a sigh of relief.

The secretary saw them as soon as they entered the main hall. "Frank, Joe," she called. The Hardys knew her rather well, and she knew that they could be trusted. "We have already notified your dad," she told them. "But we are having some problems locating Katie's parents here. Could you please help to get hold of them? I have other things to attend to."

Joe offered to call. She handed him a slip of paper with a number. "Just ask for Mrs. Ryan," the secretary told him. Seeing that the phones there were in use, Joe sprinted upstairs to use the phone in the school office.

He had just reached the top of the stairs when someone collided straight into him, sending him off balance. The force sent him flying backwards, and before he could even realize what was happening, he found himself hurtling down the stairs at top speed!


	6. The delinquent, and the reporter

_No, I don't own Brian nor Liz_

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Chapter 6:

"Joooeee!" yelled Frank in alarm. He was just a short distance away from the stairs when he saw Joe fall.

The moment Joe realized he was tumbling, he struck his hands out at the banister and kicked his feet backwards. Though he did not manage to land on his feet, his actions did at least prevent him from landing head-first, much to his brother's relief. He landed with a thud at the bottom of the stairs.

Footsteps clattered down the stairs and Joe looked up. He was surprised (and annoyed) to see who had knocked into him. Brian Conrad, Belinda's older brother, was scowling down at him.

"What are you rushing round like that for?" he growled.

"What are_ you _doing rushing around like that, you mean?" Joe retorted, getting up. "And what are you doing in school? I thought you have graduated ages ago." Just then, Frank arrived, running up.

"Gosh, Joe, are you hurt?" he asked, his voice tinged with concern. "You didn't hit your head, did you?" Joe waved his brother off, and assured him that he was fine. He was not about to be fussed over like that, at least not in front of Brian. Frank immediately eyed Brian with a look of mistrust. 

"Why are you here?" he demanded. "Didn't you graduate last year?" He was certainly not very pleased to see Brian. He always considered Brian a case of bad news, and this time coupled with Joe's fall, was no exception either. Even while Brian was at school, they had never gotten along. It was a mutual feeling. Brian used to be one of the trouble makers when he was at school, and hated the Hardys. It's fair, Frank thought, since we loathed him just as much.

Brian gave a mocking snigger. "You sure talk as if you own the school, huh? Well, the school didn't stop me from coming in to look for my sister, so why should you? And oh yes, of course I did graduate last year, unlike _you_." Without waiting for a comeback from Frank, he stalked off, apparently to look for his sister Belinda.

Joe started after him, but Frank stopped him. "He won't try anything out there now, not with all those teachers and students down there. Come on, let's go and place that call. Then we'll check up on Katie."

_-xx-_

"That's all? You just saw the fire? Nothing else?" a voice sounded from one of the rooms. "Come on, girl, I need the details. I'm writing the school paper, for goodness sake."

Joe looked at Frank, and rolled his eyes. Frank grinned. Liz Webling was certainly on her job again. A good friend of Callie's, Liz was the president of the Journalism Club of Bayport High, and writing and publishing of the school paper was one of her duties. She had somehow gotten Miss Thompson out of the room so that she could interview the girls.

Liz noticed them coming in, and called to them at once. "Hey Frank! Joe! You are just the people I want to see next. Both of you."

Joe ignored her. He was not in the mood to be interviewed, after all that had happened that day.

"Later," Frank said, taking her notebook from her. After a brief look at her notes, he took her aside.

"Liz, can we keep this story off the paper?"

Liz frowned. "Of course not. Everyone's expecting a column on this. And besides, we always have a column on the first day of school. Why?"

"Well, I'm not particularly enthusiastic to read about my own van blowing up. And I'm sure Katie won't either, about her car."

"Yeah, I can't really manage to get her to talk much either," Liz admitted. "She doesn't seem to remember seeing anything else besides the smoke and fire…"

"Look," Joe snapped, walking up and hearing the conversation. "Leave Katie alone. She's been upset enough." Frank felt a stab of guilt as he glanced in Katie's direction. Though the girl wasn't crying, her face was white and pinched – her pale cheeks a stark contrast to the warm cheery glow she radiated earlier that morning – and her blue eyes had lost much of their sparkle. For a brief second, he wished that they parked in a different spot – perhaps somewhere farther away from the other vehicles...

Liz scowled at Joe; then turned to Frank, as if expecting him to back her up. Frank sighed. "Well, I'm afraid I'm with Joe here. What do you expect?" he asked. "She was coming out when she saw her car explode before her two eyes. Really, what else do you expect her to see? Not everyone takes these sort of things like Joe and me, you know?"

Liz looked at him in disbelief. "Well, I must say I'm surprised. Isn't it what you guys are here for too? To interview the witness?" But Frank shook his head.

"No, we came to see if she's okay." He glanced at Katie once again, then back at Liz. "This is not the time for questions, Liz. Not now."

Liz didn't look happy, but she nodded anyway. "So can I interview you guys instead?"

Frank sighed. Joe looked doubtful. They weren't sure if they liked this, knowing fully well that Liz had a wicked pen sometimes. "Only if we can have a copy of those notes," the younger Hardy told her, indicating her notebook. "And you're only writing what we told you…"


	7. The police station

Chapter 7:

Frank and Joe sat in Chief Collig's room as their father paced the floor in front of them. Fenton Hardy had driven his sons right over to the local police station to give their statement as soon as he picked them up from school.

"What happened?" he asked in a terse voice. "Are you boys on a case?"

"No," Joe quipped. "But we sure are now."

Frank frowned at him. "Be serious, Joe," he admonished his brother. "But no, Dad, we're not." It was true. Cases were the last thing on his mind when he started the term. In fact, he had hardly even been himself lately. "Dad, you're not on a case now either, are you?"

"No, I'm not," replied his father. "But like Joe said, I probably am now."

Chief Collig entered the room a little while later, holding a thick manila folder in his hands. He shut the door.

"So, who have you Hardys been offending lately?" the police chief asked. His tone was serious.

"I wish we knew," Mr. Hardy answered. "But the thing is, we don't. And none of us are on a case. Does the police have any suspects so far?"

"I was hoping that you could tell me that," said Chief Collig. "Well, I don't know what we can do for now. We've questioned the people around, but no one seems to notice anyone suspicious. It would be hard to catch the culprit now. He'll probably lie low for the time being. Still, we'll have someone to check on Brian Conrad, just in case.

"But it may not be him. After all, if Conrad could sneak into the school grounds, so could _anyone_ else," continued the Chief. "And we'll also be tightening the security around the area."

"Was the bomb timed?" Frank asked. The question had been nagging his mind since he stared out of the window earlier.

"Probably. Or it could have been controlled via a remote. You know how advanced technology is these days," the police chief said.

"Terrorists?" Fenton Hardy offered.

"We seriously don't know yet, but we aren't ruling out that possibility." Chief Collig replied.

"Well, as usual I advise you boys to be very very careful," he continued. "Keep an eye on your surroundings. Stay together, and don't go anywhere unnecessarily." It was a familiar old piece of advice that he had given the Hardys time and again whenever they attracted these sort of trouble. And this time, he added something else too.

"Well, boys, things may be dangerous this time around. I would advise you not investigate this on your own, if possible." He paused when he saw the frown on the boys' faces. "Well, at least not without your father," he added. Mr. Hardy assured him that they wouldn't, but Frank and Joe said nothing. _They_ weren't about to promise anything.

_-xx-_

_Looking at the way our story goes, we think we are giving too much attention to Frank. We need to give Joe a little bit of the light too. Any ideas?_


	8. The green car

_To those who reviewed: thanks for the feedback. The reviews have been very helpful for us in deciding whether we should change the "direction" of the story or not._

_So now, on with the story!_

_-xx-_

Chapter 8:

To Frank's surprise, he had actually worked better the following day. It was amazing what being on a case can do. The case had completely taken his mind off Callie and Steve. In fact he hardly even gave them a thought, much less a glance that whole morning. The only thing that came between him and his books were thoughts about their van.

And Katie. He found his gaze drawn towards his left once again - where Katie was sitting with Vanessa, obviously oblivious to his glance while she penned her notes. He had caught up with the girl first thing that morning and was relieved to see that she had recovered from her shock the day before, even if her usually high spirits were a little subdued. But he was no where closer to solving the case – she hadn't seen anyone near her car or their van, and neither had anyone else.

Police efforts in locating the culprit had yielded negative results. They had picked Brian up, of course, but he denied having anything to do with the bombing. No one had any evidence, much less a clue where the case was concerned, but despite that, the week was actually going rather well for Frank. Not only was he coping well in lessons, but the boys had wanted him to be quarterback again this year too for the second year running. At first, he felt a little bad about not giving his juniors a chance. After all, he had already tried the position last year, but as Biff and Joe pointed out, it was the team's choice. The team had voted for him, and there was nothing to feel guilty about. Well, that's easy for Joe to say because Joe had already been chosen baseball captain, Frank thought. He wondered what the other boys thought.

He was even almost top in Mr. Wilson's history test that week; much to Mr. Wilson's surprise. He was a close second, losing only to Katie Ryan by only one mark. Katie had surprised the class by doing brilliantly, as Mr. Wilson had put it.

"Gosh, Kate! I never knew you're so good in history," remarked Chet enviously.

Vanessa chuckled. "You've got new competition, Frank."

Frank held out his hand to Katie. The younger girl shook his hand playfully and grinned. "There's Frank congratulating you," Joe teased. "You surpassed my brother as class geek today. It's a rare opportunity, I tell you."

Katie laughed. "It's only history I'm good at," she replied. "I suck at all the rest." She made a face. "Especially calculus."

"Hmm, we'll soon see about that," Frank smiled at her. But Katie shook her head.

"Dad is a history teacher. He doesn't teach anything else," she said with a grin.

Chet Morton interrupted them by rapping impatiently on the table "I vote we go to Mr. Pizza and celebrate," he announced. "It's been quite a while since we've been there."

"Oh, yes," Katie put in eagerly. "I haven't been to the mall much since I came here."

So off they went towards the school gates. "Shall we take our bikes?" asked Frank, glancing at the motorcycle bays. He and Joe had been riding their bikes to school since their van got blown up.

Joe shook his head. "I'm riding with Vanessa. She's driving me and Kate."

"We can easily take one more," Vanessa told him. "Hop in."

It took them about twenty minutes to get to Bayport Mall that day. Jerry, Biff and Chet were already ahead of them. "Come on," Joe called impatiently as he jumped out of the car, tired, hungry and cross at being stuck in the traffic for such a long time.

Vanessa pulled him back. "Aw, don't be such a grouch," she cooed playfully, as she linked her arm in his, holding hands as they walked down the road. Katie skipped cheerily alongside them, while Frank followed a little way behind.

"Come on," Vanessa coaxed, with a laugh, seeing the persistent scowl on Joe's face. "We'll soon be there. It's just a short walk. I wonder – "

What she wondered nobody knew. Coming behind them was a loud roar of engine, drowning her words. Joe turned, just in time to see a large green car speeding furiously at them.

_-xx-_

_So how do you like chapter 8? _

_Till the next chapter!_


	9. The pizza place

_As much as we like to grab Frank off somewhere, we can't. He's a detective – gotta give him some work to do first. _

_-xx-_

Chapter 9:

"Look out!" shouted Joe. Hurriedly, he yanked Vanessa onto the pavement as the car went zooming past, narrowly missing them by the inches. Phew, that was close!

Frank and Katie were sprawled on the pavement not far behind Joe. Frank had heard the car too, and had quickly grabbed Katie, shoving her out of the way of the speeding car. "Ow – that monster of a car…" he muttered, getting up.

"Joe! Come back here!" yelled Frank, seeing his brother take off after the green car. What does he want to do that for? he groaned, shaking his head as he got up to his feet. Doesn't he know that will never catch up with that thing on foot? He stared in the direction where the car (and Joe!) had gone, with a certain suspicious feeling that it was a deliberate attempt of running them down.

"Kate, you alright?" Vanessa asked, seeing the smaller girl cringe as she attempted to get up. Instantly, Vanessa hurried over and helped her to her feet.

"Ugh," Katie winced as she put her left foot down gingerly.

"That looks like a nasty sprain," Frank observed. "Can you walk?" He noticed that it was beginning to swell and his brows furrowed. "I should take you home," he mused aloud, but Joe was no where to be seen.

Katie assured him she was fine. Frank nodded, then scanned the road again for his brother. Now, where had that Joe gone to?

Joe sprinted back a little while later. "Manage to… catch a glimpse of the license number," he panted, as he read out the number to Frank.

"Good job, brother. We'll check the number out later. Maybe we'll find out who's the owner."

By the time they reached Mr. Pizza, Katie's ankle was hurting considerably. The others, seeing that it was badly swollen, insisted that she sit down at once.

Biff and Chet were already at the table, looking impatient as they came in. "What took you guys so long?" Biff asked. "We've already placed the orders. Jerry's at the sports store – he needed a new baseball bat."

In a low voice, Joe explained to them about the car. Frank walked straight to the counter to ask Tony for a first-aid kit.

"Let's have a look at that," said Frank, when he came back with a first-aid kit in his hand..

Katie flushed slightly as Frank attended to her ankle. "Thanks, Frank. I... I think I can manage this on my own," she said, a little embarrased at the attention. "I'm fine, really."

"Hold still," Frank commanded, as her movements jerked the bandage loose. "That's a nasty sprain and you know it, so stop saying that you're fine. I have enough of 'I'm fine's' from Joe, okay?" Katie bit her lip, but she said nothing.

Away at a table near the window, two pairs of brown eyes watched Frank intently as he gave the bandage a final twist.

"Jealous?" Steve asked as he reached for Callie's hand across the table. Callie did not reply. She suddenly felt like crying. Blinking back a tear, she reached for a slice of pizza. Steve sighed, and turned his head towards the window.

Callie ate silently. She just had a sudden flashback of Frank treating _her_ own sprained ankle two summers ago. She had twisted her ankle once while they were on vacation, and Frank had treated the injury with ice and an elastic bandage. Now, he was doing the same to another girl, and that, a girl he barely knew. Somehow, it just hurt too much to watch…

_-xx-_

_Right, I know this may be a little disappointing chapter for those of you who were hoping for the car to grab Frank. (evil kids, you guys!) But then, we just need Frank's thinking brain a little while more…_


	10. The Google search

Chapter 10:

Frank Hardy sat silently in front of his computer, deep in thought. Something had just roused his curious detective instincts.

The boys had just driven Katie home. Set in one of the newly established developments on the edge of Bayport, her house was a huge three-storey on a wide piece of land. A very exclusive neighborhood, Frank noted with interest; with a splendid view of the shore front. Any house in this area would probably cost a fortune.

And there were at least two cars – luxury ones – parked in the driveway, probably belonging to Mr. Ryan. They must be awfully wealthy. But hadn't Vanessa said Mr. Ryan was a history teacher? Even Katie herself said so too. Okay, so the guy taught at Bayport University and he had a doctorate. But even a university professor would not be able buy himself such luxuries, would he? After all, who could afford the Barmet Bayview Homes except for the richest millionaires in Bayport? He remembered Katie's car – the red one that got blown up – that was a pretty fine one too.

Where did a university professor get such money from? Was it legal? If it wasn't, he might have something against Dad. That would explain their sudden 'accidents'. Or perhaps someone else might have something against _him_. After all, the 'accidents' had involved Katie too. Perhaps she had been the real target instead of them? Frowning in suspicion, he performed a search on his computer and sifted through the results. He hadn't a clue what Mr. Ryan's first name was, so he tried Katie's instead, hoping that he would find her father's name linked to her.

"Frank!" Joe called, as he came into the room, waving a piece of paper in his hand. "I've got the results!" Joe had been using the computer in their father's office, looking into the green car that had almost crashed into them.

Frank took the paper at once. The green car belonged to Rent-a-Car Corporation, a car rental agency located about two blocks away from Bayport Mall.

"Rent-a-Car belongs to Shane and his cousin," he said instantly. "Maybe we can ask Shane, he's manning it now, since his cousin has passed on." Shane Miller was a schoolmate of Frank's from last year, now in his first year at college. They had played football in school on several occasions, and Frank knew him. Picking up his cell phone, he dialed Shane's number, and told his friend what he wanted.

There was a still silence on the other side as he listened. "Are you sure that's the car?" exclaimed Shane suddenly from the other end of the line. "That car has not been rented out for the past two weeks! And what more, it's missing from the garage this afternoon! We have just reported to loss to the police!"

"What?" Frank listened in a mixture of surprise and dismay. Shutting off his cell phone, he turned to Joe, and quickly explained what Shane had told him.

But Joe did not appear to be listening. He was staring curiously at Frank's computer, scrutinizing the open web browser windows. And now he had shifted his attention to Frank, with an inane grin on his face.

"Wha…t?" Frank began, as the younger boy exploded into a helpless mirth of laughter. "Whoa! Frank Hardy! What's this?" Frank groaned when he saw what Joe was looking at. A pink colored blog was splashed all over the screen. "Katie's blog and Google search? Whatever are you doing?" asked Joe with a smirk. "And I thought you're doing homework!"

"Joe, it's not like what you think. I…"

"Uh yeah, I thought I _did_ notice something in the pizza place just now," his brother continued, ignoring him. Flushing a little, Frank grabbed the mouse and snapped all the damned windows shut.

"Joe! I'm _sleuthing_, Joe," he interjected a little louder, desperately trying to save himself, and tried to voiced his suspicions about Mr. Ryan's wealth. "I need his name in order to run a check against Dad's records…" he started to explain, but sighed and broke off as soon as he realized Joe wasn't listening. God, was he ever going to get this kid to listen? "Joe! Get serious, will you?"

Joe had collapsed on the bed, laughing. Frank's flushed, helpless look was priceless! Exasperated, Frank picked up a pillow and threw it at his brother. Finally after a long while, Joe sobered up. "I _am_ serious," he said. He clapped a hand on Frank's shoulder, then looked at his brother in the eye. "_Seriously_, brother. How do you feel about her?"

Frank gave a tremendous sigh and rolled his eyes. There it goes again. "Joe," he said slowly, making a great effort to sink each word into Joe's mind. "I was trying to tell you about the car. The _green_ car."

Joe waved his hand impatiently. "I heard you. The car's stolen. Now don't try to change the subject." Draping an arm around his brother's shoulders, he continued. "Look, Frank. I wasn't kidding when I said I thought I noticed something in Mr. Pizza. I haven't seen you _this_ concerned over someone, apart from Callie And _me_, of course," he said, stressing a little too smugly over the word 'me'. "You're not like that to anyone else, not Belinda, not even Holly. So come on, spill."

Frank thought of the pretty blonde, and tried hard not to smile. He hated to admit to Joe that he liked her tremendously. At her petite stature, Katie was no supermodel, but she was certainly attractive in her own way, and Frank had found her sunny enthusiasm rather refreshing. A little shy at times, perhaps, but certainly very down-to-earth, without the airs and graces like some of the spoilt, rich kids he had met. But as much as he liked her, the detective in him was also a little… wary…

"You want an honest answer?" he asked finally. "Really, I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"It's just that. I don't know. I mean, I do like her, if that's what you're asking." He looked at Joe and shrugged. "She's a sweet girl and all that… the kinda girl that you wouldn't want to hurt for anything. Not the kind you'd flirt with, if you know what I mean."

Joe almost snorted. Since when do _you_ flirt, Frank? But "mm-hmm…" was all he said, as he waited for Frank to continue.

"But I don't know. To sum it up – this is the first time we take her out for pizza, and I've already broken her ankle. And we're probably the reason why her car exploded..."

"You didn't break her ankle. And besides, better a sprained ankle than being under that car…"

"I'm just saying that I don't want her to keep getting hurt. And not only physically. I'm not exactly sure how I still feel about Callie – I think you know that. I don't want to start a relationship just for the sake of having one... "

Plus, I'm still checking on her dad, he didn't add. He pondered on that for a moment, wondering if he should let Joe on to that. Well, it was not that he hadn't tried. He had, only that Joe wasn't listening. Perhaps it was just as well, he decided. After all, it was just a wild guess. They could talk on that later once he did a little bit more search.

Joe stood up and sighed. You're just being too cautious, big brother. Just go with the flow, and take it easy,… naturally…

Frank turned back to his computer after Joe left the room. He didn't get much from the Google search earlier. All he managed to find was her blog, her Facebook account and a few posts on a Harry Potter forum. Katie was a careful blogger, and was very cautious in what she did and did not reveal. Most of her entries were just random babble, mostly about her school, her hobbies and her friends – things that didn't matter. No clue about her parents or family whatsoever, except for, perhaps, her dog, a lovely yellow border collie named Lucky – though Frank thought he could hardly be considered family.

It wasn't until late that he decided to check the school records instead. Okay, this may be illegal, but it's not like I'm doing any harm, he thought. Tapping into the school database, he searched for the girl's details. What showed up on the screen made him stare. Of course he recognized her father's name…


	11. The next day

Chapter 11:

"Morning, Mom," Frank greeted his mother, as he came into the kitchen, feeling decidedly hungry. He yawned again sleepily. "Where's Joe? I didn't see him when I was coming down."

"Gone over to Vanessa's" was his mother's reply, as she went over to the fridge to pour out a glass of milk for her oldest son. "You two are supposed to meet up with the rest of the guys at the docks, aren't you?"

Frank raised an eyebrow. "So early?" he asked. They had made plans with their friends to spend the morning taking their boats out for a leisurely spin. It was Joe's idea to take their _Sleuth _for a cruise on the cool waters, and perhaps a race with Tony's _Napoli._ "But that's not till ten o'clock," he said. He thought it was a little unusual for Joe to be up so early. Joe usually slept in on Saturday mornings.

His mother laughed. "It's _already_ ten, Frank! You overslept today. And you looked so tired that Joe didn't want to wake you!" Frank glanced at the clock and grinned sheepishly. It was true. And he still did felt a little sleepy actually. He had spent half the night in his father's study, reading through old CIA reports, and going to bed only about five in the morning.

"Aw, he should have," grumbled Frank. He had planned to let Joe on about his findings before they went out. He did not manage to speak to Joe last night, as the younger Hardy was already in bed. But then again, maybe it was a good thing that Joe had left him alone – God only knows what drastic measures his mischievous young brother would use to rouse him.

"Anyway, Joe was up early. Vanessa came over to pick him up at around eight this morning," continued Laura. "He had incentive, you know? Vanessa made pancakes, and invited him over for breakfast." Frank let out an 'ooh' and a chuckle as he ate his scrambled egg and toast.

"And oh yes, he asked you to pick Katie up on your way out later," she added, with a smile. Frank immediately felt a warm sensation on his cheeks, and his head snapped up at once. What? Is this a setup? His eyes narrowed suspiciously remembering Joe's annoying grin the day before. "What else did Joe say to you?" he asked, frowning. "Anyway, I can't pick her up. I'm taking the bike."

"You can take the car. I won't be using it today," his mother told him, smiling. As Frank opened his mouth to say 'no', she interrupted him. "Frank, I'm not having you on your bike. At least not on your own without Joe. I heard Joe telling your dad how a car almost ran you both down yesterday. You'll be safer in a car than on a bike.

"Okay, run along now. You're late already. Leave those dishes in the sink. Joe and the rest are probably waiting for you." Frank thanked his mother and gave her a peck on the cheek before he left.

_-xx-_

"Wow, Frank is sure late today," Tony remarked, looking at his watch. He was already at the docks with Biff and Chet, together with Joe and Vanessa.

Joe grinned. "He has a girl to pick up," he said, giving Vanessa a sly wink. His girlfriend giggled and told them how Joe had called her and told her that he caught Frank checking up on Katie. That was when she decided to make pancakes to drag Joe out of Frank's way.

Biff let out a low whistle. "Yeah, so I wasn't wrong at Mr. Pizza that day!" Tony and Chet nodded and agreed. "You mean you guys noticed it too?"

"Noticed it when he came rushing up for a first aid kit," Tony grinned. "By the way, we have three boats between us – the _Sleuth_, the _Napoli_ and Katie's."

"Katie has a boat?" queried Chet, as he looked incredulously at Tony. Tony nodded.

"Yeah. A pretty neat one too. But one of us will get to drive her today. Katie won't be able to, 'cause of her sprained ankle. She'll just ride and enjoy the wind."

The boys looked out towards the horizon. It was a perfectly lovely day. The sea was now a rich cornflower blue, glistening in the sun as it stretched out beneath miles and miles of clear blue sky. Little white crests foamed on the surface as the waves swirled and bubbled with joy, gently crashing against the docks. Gulls rose and fell, crying and cawing as they circled above the water, looking for food. The cool sea-wind blew hard in their faces, and in the distance, they could see a few boats already out in the waters. Tony glanced at his watch, then at Joe. _He, _too, couldn't wait to sail on a fine day like this.

Joe caught Tony's gaze, and shrugged, a frown creasing his brow. He was becoming increasingly worried. It was not like Frank to be this late, and without phoning up even. He kept looking at his watch. It was five to eleven now, and that meant, they had been waiting for almost a whole hour. Finally he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Frank's number.

There was no answer. All he got was the standard voice message from the telephony provider, saying that the phone could not be reached. Frantically, he tried again. Same thing. He tried another two times, then dialed Katie's number. A cheerful voice chirped on the line.

"Hello! You have reached the voicemail of Katie Ryan... so SAY something!" Joe gave an impatient grunt and terminated the call.

Vanessa was the first to notice his anxiousness. "Maybe he has gone off for a late brunch or something," she suggested. "After all, he has company today. Or maybe he decided to ditch us…"

Joe shot her a look. "This is Frank we are talking about. Frank will never ditch an appointment without calling. He always calls, even though he is going to be just ten minutes late."

"Maybe his phone has ran of battery?" said Chet hopefully. Joe shook his head.

"You could say that if it was me. But no. Frank's cell phone never runs out of battery. He always keeps it fully charged." He felt a sudden knot in his gut – the familiar feeling that he always got whenever Frank failed to turn up as he should. Please, don't tell me that he's run into trouble again. His hands shaking slightly, he finally decided to call home.

"Frank left the house about forty-five minutes ago," Laura Hardy told him, as Joe popped the question. "He should be there by now. You mean…" her voice grew hushed. "You mean he's still not there yet?"

"No. But it's possible he might have detoured and gone for brunch or something. Or maybe Katie kept him waiting. You know – rich girls…" Though he knew that was not at all likely, he was hoping that it would keep their mother from worrying for the time being, until his father came home. He didn't tell his mother that Katie's cell phone was not answered either. "Don't worry, Mom, We'll find him," he said, ringing off. Then he called Fenton Hardy's office and told his father about Frank.

"No luck," he muttered to his friends. Biff placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"Come on. We'll drive up the road to Katie's house, then back to yours," he suggested to Joe. "Maybe we'll find him. "But don't worry too much. After all, like Vanessa said, he may have just been caught up with in his own plans. You know…"


	12. The accident

Chapter 12:

Frank had driven over to Katie's home right after his breakfast that morning, feeling a little apprehensive. He did not know why; he was not usually nervous, but the prospect of meeting Mr. Ryan (or rather, Dr. Ryan, since he had a doctorate in history) scared him a little. But he need not have worried. He was slightly late in picking her up, and she was already waiting for him at the door.

"Hey!" he greeted the girl brightly as she came to the car. Katie waved back a greeting as she hobbled up to the car.

"Yeah, Vanessa called and told me she couldn't pick me up," she told Frank with a smile. Though she was limping slightly on her bad foot, her face was shining with enthusiasm at the prospect of a lovely day out. "Oh, I say, isn't the weather heavenly?"

Frank grinned. "Van has gone on a breakfast date with my brother. So I'm playing chauffer today," he explained. He glanced down at her ankle. "I see that sprain is a lot better. "

Katie beamed. "Well, Mom had a look at it." Katie's mother was a medical surgeon in Bayport General Hospital, and like all other doctors, she was rather meticulous in these things, especially when it concerned her children.

It started as a pleasant drive at first. The road from Katie's house was flanked by lush green meadows, the tall grass dotted white and blue and yellow with little wildflowers that nodded and waved in the morning breeze. Big and little trees grew here and there along the way, and far off over on one side of the road, between the hills in the dip, they had a glimpse of the sea, calm and blue as the sky above. Frank found a delightful company in the younger girl as she marveled at the view, and he soon found himself telling her all about Bayport.

But just as they turned back onto the main road, Frank suddenly frowned, and peered into his rearview mirror. The car gave a little lurch as he stepped up the gas. "Hold tight," he told Katie, his keen eyes scanning the mirror's reflection. "I think someone's following us."

Keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him, Frank glanced briefly at the mirror again. From the reflection he could see a familiar car pursuing them from behind. It was the _green _car – the same one which had been stolen from the rental place. As he changed lanes, the green car too did the same and sped up, closing the distance behind them.

"Fraank!" Katie's scream rang out, as a blue car swung towards them and crashed onto her side of the car. Frank had been too focused on the green car behind them to notice that there was actually a second car tailing them. "Hang on tight," Frank said grimly, as he stepped on the gas even more and pushed the limit, trying to outrun the two cars.

Crash! It came again. This time the green car behind had hit his rear bumper. Frank felt a large jolt and grabbed hold of the wheel to stay in control. But it was too late. The blue car hit them from the side, and sent them careening towards a nearby farmyard. The car spun madly out of control and skidded dangerously over the wet grass, crashing through the ferns and crushing the dozens of wildflowers under its squealing tires.

Frank slammed on the brakes, and attempted a wild swerve as a large wooden structure loomed up in front of them. But his efforts were futile. Their vehicle had collided straight-on into the wall of a barn.

The last thing Frank heard was Katie's scream, before the impact threw him forward and smacked him hard against the steering wheel. He slumped onto the steering wheel, unconscious.

"Frank!" Katie cried fearfully, seeing the slumped figure next to her in the driver's seat. She had earlier held tight on the dashboard to prevent herself from being thrown forward. Her hands trembling, she pulled out her cell phone to dial emergency.

"Oh no, you don't," a voice snarled as a hand came through the broken window and snatched her cell phone away. As she struggled to get out of the car, the hand clamped a wet towel against her nose and mouth. The sweet smelling aroma soon lulled her into a sleep, and she went limp in her seat.

"Take her and tie her up," a low voice spoke. "I'll handle Hardy."


	13. The wait

_Sorry for the late update, everyone. It took us a little while to get this chapter right as we had to rewrite it a few times. _

Chapter 13:

"No, the hospitals don't have him," said Fenton Hardy, as they sat in the living room a few hours later. He had been calling all the hospitals in Bayport with a description of Frank, but none of the hospital staff seemed to have seen him. At the sofa, Laura Hardy looked at her husband in despair. Joe took his mother's hand and rubbed it comfortingly.

Earlier that day, they had traced the route as Biff suggested, and had found the wreckage of Laura's car at the farmyard, with the green car abandoned nearby, but there was no sign of Frank or Katie anywhere. They had combed the entire area in search of them, but to no avail.

"I've just been talking to Ezra Collig," Mr. Hardy told his wife, as he placed down the phone again. "The police have found some scrapes of blue and green on your car. They have posted a lookout for cars that match those shades. Hopefully, that will turn out something." He sighed. "Now if you excuse me, I need to go to the station and see Ezra."

Laura Hardy looked a little surprised. "Chief Collig? Frank just disappeared a few hours ago. You mean the police are looking into this already? I thought the police wait twenty-four hours or something," she frowned.

Her detective husband fell silent. This is grave, Chief Collig had told Fenton Hardy over the phone. "Well, I suppose we need to break it to the Ryans that their daughter is missing." He wasn't lying, though he personally suspected there was more to it. As soon as Chief Collig had heard that Katie was with Frank, he had said exactly that, and requested for Fenton to go over to the station at once.

"Do the police you know who took him yet?" she pressed on. Fenton Hardy shook his head.

"We're still trying to find out. That's also why Ezra wants to see me."

Joe buried his face in his hands and let out a soft groan. In all his worry about Frank, the younger Hardy had forgotten about Katie. "I should have never sent Frank to go alone," he said dismally. "I should have waited for him. We should have gone together." His mother went over and pulled him close, and kissed him lightly on the head.

"It's not your fault, honey," she said gently, running her hand through her son's blond hair. "I am just guilty about it as you are. I… I agreed to that idea too, and I even encouraged him to take my car." It was true. She had been a little thrilled that morning when Joe told him that he and Vanessa were setting Frank up. She thought that it would do Frank good since he was already brooding over Callie too much. She never thought it would end up like this.

Mr. Hardy took a seat next to his son. "Don't blame yourselves too much," he told them, laying a hand on Joe's shoulder. "Maybe it's a good thing that he went in the car. At least, we can still hope that he is not that badly injured. I shudder to think what might have happened if you two are run down on your bikes." He reached over to his wife and squeezed her hand, hoping that what he said was true. "We'll find him soon, Laura."

"No, that's not it, Dad," Joe admitted dismally. "Frank – he…" He took a deep breath to compose himself. "Frank was checking up on Katie on the computer yesterday evening. I think he suspected something about her. Or her dad, rather."

His mother looked at him at once. "What? Why?" she asked.

"I don't know," admitted Joe. "I wasn't paying much attention. I was too busy teasing him to listen." He dropped his face into his hands. "Dad, do you think that's why they got him? 'Cause he was getting too close at something? Something about the Ryans, maybe?"

Mr. Hardy looked thoughtful. He had not known this. "Try to find out what has Frank been surfing on yesterday. Check the history and the cache on his computer," he instructed.

Mrs. Hardy's voice grew hushed. "You mean, the Ryans are involved in this?" she said bitterly. "And to think we sent him out with that girl…"

Her husband shook his head. "We don't know that yet for sure. It's just a guess, but it might be helpful to see what Frank was checking on. But I'll find out soon. I'm meeting Dr. Ryan and Ezra at the station."

"Be careful." His wife was looking at him, almost pleading.

"I will," he promised, taking her hand and planting her a kiss before heading for the door.

_-xx-_

Frank furrowed his brow, his eyes still half shut. He had just woken up to a throbbing headache. "Ugh," he moaned groggily, trying to lift up his hand to rub his temples. To his surprise, he could not move. Peering through the lids of his eyes, he realized that he was bound at his wrists and ankles. He closed his eyes again, willing the fuzziness to go away, and tried to remember where he was. He wondered how long he had been unconscious.

The car… the lurch… the crash... moments of the accident earlier replayed in his mind. He suddenly snapped his eyes open. Katie! Whatever had happened to her? Painfully, he struggled to push himself up to a sitting position. As he tried to get up, he felt a strong hand push him down back again. He felt a needle prick into his arm and he swam back into a deep sleep.


	14. The small bare room

Chapter 14:

"Move it, Frank," the dark haired teen told himself when he awakened the next morning. The aftereffects of the drug had left him dizzy and nauseous, even when he was lying down on the cold stone floor. That must be one hell of a drug, he muttered inwardly, fighting the urge to fall asleep again. Ignoring the blinding headache that the drug gave him, Frank forced himself to sit up. No more sleeping, as much as you want to, he said to his aching body. You have to get out of here.

Glancing around, he found that he was in a small dingy room, devoid of furniture. Four blank walls, now grey with age, stared back him as he swept his eyes over the bare room, hoping to find some way of escape The only window was a small, barred one near the ceiling, about ten feet from the ground. There was no way out except though the door, which he guessed, was locked. Silently, he wondered where Katie was.

He was just about to work on the bonds around his hands when he heard a sound outside the door. A scuffling of feet, followed by a muffled squeal. Realizing that someone was coming, he slid back down onto the floor, and closed his eyes. There was no way he was going to let whoever it was administer that drug on him again.

The door opened, and a girl was pushed in. There was a gasp and a thud, as she fell over her feet. She lay there silently for a moment, as the footsteps retreated and the door clicked shut again

Almost at once, Frank's eyes snapped open. "Katie!" he exclaimed in a hoarse whisper, seeing the girl lying not too far from him. Like himself, her hands and feet were bound, but she had a gag in her mouth too. But he breathed in relief when he saw that she was conscious.

"Kate," he hissed. "Katie, are you alright?"

The girl looked over. She nodded slightly. Slowly and painfully, she tried to wiggle herself up to a sitting position, wincing whenever she moved her feet. She had just hurt her ankle – the one that she had sprained – further.

Finally, she managed to get herself to sit up, and inched her back up to the wall. She looked pale and tired, and Frank noticed that her left cheek was beginning to swell. Did they hit her? he wondered, taking in the bruise on her jaw. He wished that he could take gag from her mouth. That would at least make her feel more comfortable. He wondered who their captors were. Was she taken just because she was with him in his car? Or was he taken because he was with her?

Feeling a sudden urge to comfort the younger girl, Frank inched himself a little nearer, until he was almost beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Katie looked up at him and tried to smile, but the gag prevented her from doing so. So she just nodded her head. Frank felt a pang in his heart, as he realized that the girl was trying hard not to cry. He took in the bruises on her arms and legs, wishing that he could pull her close and hold her. Though Katie was in his class, and they were only a year apart in their ages, it felt as if she were miles younger – a rather delicate flower in Frank's eyes, and he was determined to protect her till they got out safely.

"What happened?" Frank probed again. "Did they hit you?" She almost nodded in response, but hesitated when she noticed the concern in his dark eyes. So she lightly jerked her head sideways instead, to say that she was fine. Frank kept his eyes on her for a while, before he started on his bonds again.

Damn these ropes! he cursed inwardly. They will take forever to get loose! Frank worked diligently on his bonds, hoping to loosen them, but in vain, as the ropes were tightly knotted. He wished he had a knife, but though he hadn't one, he was not giving up. This was not the first time he had been abducted and tied, and drugged even worse. He had been in situations worse than this before. In fact, there were times where he even almost died, held hostage with a gun or even tied up with a bomb ticking near his head, only to be rescued at the very last minute. He was used to this, but he was pretty sure Katie was not.

His wrists sore from all the tugging and pulling, he finally decided to take a break. "Let me see if I can untie yours instead,"" he said to Katie.

Katie's eyes snapped open. She had just closed her eyes in a short silent prayer, for them to get out of there safely. She, too, had tried to wriggle her hands out of the ropes earlier, but without success. Her mouth felt dry, but that was probably her own fault. Her abductor wouldn't have gagged her if she hadn't screamed. Still, she felt a lot more comforted now that Frank was in the same room. Not that she wished Frank any harm, but Frank's presence was just – comforting.

Frank cursed inwardly when he saw the bonds on Katie's wrists. The ropes were cinched and knotted so tightly that it would take forever to loosen. Whoever tied them up must be a professional knotter, or a boy scout. Oh well, at least now, he had seen how the ropes went – perhaps this knowledge might help him work around them.

He cast one more glance at Katie's injured ankle. She wouldn't be able to run even if she had gotten loose. As he turned back to his own bonds, he felt Katie's delicate fingers tracing the same ropes. She had caught his glance, and immediately paralleled his thoughts. He gave a girl a grateful smile – he could sure use some help here.

They had almost gotten one of the ropes to loosen when the door suddenly swung open again. Not having the time to slide himself back down onto the floor, Frank hid his arms behind his back against the wall and braced himself to swing his bonded feet at his captor, in case he was threatened with that drugged syringe again. But his captor didn't. He strode up to Katie instead.

"Where are you taking her?" Frank demanded. He studied their captor intently. The guy was masked, but his eyes looked strangely familiar. Frank could not place where he had seen them somewhere before.

Katie gave a little squirm and tried to kick as the masked captor dragged her to her feet. "Don't hurt her," Frank found himself saying. "Look, it's me that you want, isn't it? Take it out with me if you want to. Leave her alone!"

His captor snickered at him, "We'll deal with you later," Frank heard a familiar voice say. The man snickered again and hauled Katie out of the room despite Frank's protests.

_-xx-_

"Any news of Frank yet?" asked Vanessa worriedly, as she stepped into the Hardys' home the next day. She had come over to accompany Joe and Mrs. Hardy, and to lend whatever support they needed.

Joe shook his head dolefully. It had been a whole day since Frank was abducted, and they had still not heard from the kidnappers. He and the rest of the gang, together with Phil and Jerry, gone on a search around the town the last night, hoping to find some clue to Frank's whereabouts, but their search turned out futile.

"No, there is no ransom note, nothing. Not even a phone call that we can trace," he said miserably. "And Dad has shut himself in his study since he came back from Chief Collig's yesterday night." Vanessa took his arm and gave it a light squeeze.

Joe was silent for a moment. Memories from a previous case flashed through his mind. While he and Frank were on a case in Barbados, he had gotten close to a girl named Heather Reed. And Frank, always the cautious one, had asked him a question: _How much do you really know about Heather?_...

"Vanessa," Joe said after a long pause. "I know you and Katie are good friends. But tell me, how much do you really know about Katie?"


	15. The unexpected visitor

Chapter 15:

"It's not Katie, Joe," Vanessa shook her head vehemently. "Katie wouldn't do a thing like that – I've known her all my life." When Joe didn't reply, she sighed. "You don't suspect, say, Chet, of kidnapping Frank, do you?"

"That's not the same thing. We've known Chet all our lives," Joe retorted but Vanessa stopped him a murderous glare.

"You mean, _you_ have known Chet all your life. I don't. I only met him last year when I came to Bayport."

Joe sighed. He didn't like the comparison, but he nodded anyway. With the two girls being fast friends, he had hung out with Katie (with Vanessa, of course) more than Frank had, and he could see that she wasn't someone who would intentionally hurt another person. But her dad – that's entirely a different story. There had to be some reason why Frank was checking up on Dr. Ryan. If only… if only he had listened to Frank that night.

"What about her dad?" Joe asked, slowly. "Have you ever met her dad? Tell me about him."

Vanessa's eyes narrowed. She knew with absolute certainty that Dr. Ryan was an upright, honorable man. But there were things about Dr. Ryan that she had promised Katie she would never tell…

_-xx-_

After what seemed like a million years, Frank finally managed to get the ropes off his hands. Hurriedly, he undid the bonds around his ankles, and made his way to the door. He was just about to try the handle when he thought he heard footsteps from outside.

With a quick stealthy movement, he positioned himself at the side of the door, ready to jump on whoever that was coming in. The door did click open, but to his astonishment, a blonde head peered in cautiously.

"Frank!" a girl hissed.

"Callie!" whispered Frank in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Callie hushed him. With trembling hands, she beckoned him out of the room.

"How did you…"

But Callie shook her head. "You;ve got to go," she told him urgently. "They might hurt you if you don't."

"They?" Frank repeated, before the realization suddenly hit him. Those familiar eyes, that familiar voice... "Steve!" he cried out. He wondered who the other guy was.

Callie cringed. So, Frank had recognized Steve. "Just go," she urged him. But Frank was staring at her, suspicion lurking in his eyes.

"You mean you _knew_ about this?" he demanded, his tone accusing. "How did you know I am here?"

"I overheard Steve when he was on the phone," Callie replied softly. "He was at my place when someone called him."

"When was that? And who was that someone?" Frank's voice was unusually sharp. He glanced at his watch. The glass was broken but it still worked. It was two thirty in the afternoon. Doing a quick math in his head, he concluded that it was Steve who had come in earlier. He recognized the familiar eyes and voice now. Earlier that morning, someone had shoved Katie in. And the last time someone had come into the room, as far as he was aware, was yesterday afternoon, when the needle punctured his arm. If it was really Steve, then the only time he could be away was in the evening, or at night.

Callie swallowed. She had noticed Frank checking his watch, and a quick glance at his face told her that his mind was working furiously. And since she did not know what had happened here in this mansion, or whether Frank actually had met Steve, she realized that she probably couldn't lie.

"Yesterday night," she admitted finally. "He was at my place for dinner."

Frank could hardly believe his ears. "What? You mean you actually knew about this yesterday evening? And you didn't stop him?"

"I couldn't." Callie hung her head, tears coming into her eyes. "He didn't know I heard."

"You could have called the police," he snapped.

"I can't," Callie almost screamed. "That's Steve we're talking about. You can't have him going to prison."

"Great. This is just great," Frank said sarcastically. "You're worried about him being caught. But you don't care if I died. In fact, you would wait for more than twelve hours before coming to rescue me. You would rather have me killed than him being caught." He took a deep breath. Now what the hell was that, Frank Hardy? he chided himself silently. Of course she cared about Steve more than she cared about you. Steve's her boyfriend, for goodness sake.

"I didn't know they got you too!"

"You said you overheard Steve last night," Frank reminded her.

Callie trembled. She knew she should never have let Frank interrogate her. He was a detective, and sharp as a packet of needles. "I did hear him. But I didn't know he had you. He didn't mention your name then. I only realized that when I bumped into Vanessa this morning, and she said you were missing."

"But you overheard that he was kidnapping someone," he persisted. "What? You mean, you wouldn't care if it wasn't me here?" He was deliberately driving Callie round and round with his questions. He figured that by getting her confused, there a better chance of her spilling everything out into the open,

"Didn't you wonder who his victim was? Wait… you just said, you didn't know they got me _too_…" he looked at her suspiciously.

When Callie fell silent, his eyes narrowed. "You knew he got Katie, didn't you?" he asked quietly. When Callie didn't answer, he took it as a 'yes'. "Oh Callie, how could you?" he groaned. His head was still spinning with this new information and he placed a hand against the wall to steady himself.

"Why Katie?" he asked a moment later.

Callie gave a sob, and tried to blink back her tears. Frank got impatient. "Okay, who was the guy who called Steve last night?

"Callie?" His tone was sharp.

Callie bit her lip. "Shane," she admitted.

Shane? Shane Miller? Frank stared at her. Of course! What an idiot he had been! The green car was from Shane's rental agency. That car was never stolen nor rented out. Shane had just conveniently taken the car, and lied to him on the phone.

"And you let him? What has Shane got against her?" he queried on. As far as he knew, Katie had never met Shane. Shane was his classmate from last year. Katie wasn't even in Bayport then. He figured by now that Katie was probably Shane's original target, though he didn't know why. If Shane had anything against him, he would have gotten at him long ago, considering the length of time he knew him. Gritting his teeth, he determined to find out what was going on.

"I… I don't know."

"Even if you couldn't call the police, you could have called Joe. Joe would have done something. And you should know that Joe would _not_ call the police if you asked him not to."

Callie hung her head. "I don't know why I didn't. I… I …."

"I what?"

Callie did not answer.

A short squeal came from one of the rooms, breaking their conversation, causing Frank to turn instinctively in its direction. "Kate…" He felt his heart constrict. Whatever was Steve, or Shane, doing to her?

"Go outside and call the police," he instructed Callie. He turned towards the direction of the cry.

"We can't," Callie protested. "We can't call the police. Please, Frank. Steve… he's just doing this for me. It's not his fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's _yours_."

"What?" Frank looked at her in bewilderment. "What do you mean, my fault?" he asked. Suddenly realization dawned, and his head started to throb. _Breathe, Frank, breathe! _He leaned onto the wall and closed his eyes. "How _could_ you? How could you allow Steve do this to Katie? She doesn't deserve any of this." He was greeted with silence once again.

"Please, let's go," Callie pleaded.

"Look, if you don't want to call the police, for Steve's sake, I can accept that. But we need to get Kate out of here."

"Frank, you need to go. Shane might hurt you if you don't."

"And leave Katie here to die?" He was clearly disgusted by now.

"Frank! Please! They are not going to kill her."

"No," he told her flatly. "You can leave if you want to. I need to get her out of here." He stormed out of the room, in the direction the cry he had heard; unaware of the fact that there was actually more to this than both he and Callie had realized.

_-xx-_

_Meta says: uh-oh, I think we have offended a whole lot of Callie fans with this one…_

_Scrawler says: Let's go and hide. (dodges pots and pans) _

_Happy reading! _

_p/s: Laura: thanks for the suggestion. We've amended that last sentence now. _

_To people who have read: don't worry about the little change. The change is purely grammatical/ sentence structure._


	16. The fight

_Be warned, the first few paragraphs is some sort of a parody on Frank. We just can't resist poking some fun at Frank and his overprotective streak, so we wrote this. For a more logical perspective, it can be easily replaced with… 'there weren't any payphone nearby'. _

_-xx-_

Chapter 16:

Keeping in the shadows, Frank made his way to where he thought the cry came from. He was relieved that the hall was not lighted. In usual circumstances, he would have gone to the nearest payphone to call the police. But not this time, he thought. Callie was right. For Callie's sake, and for Steve's sake, he could not call the police. After all, Steve was a friend, and Callie's boyfriend too. As much as Steve had run foul of the law, he was still a minor, and this was his first offence. Yet Frank had a feeling that, if Steve were caught, he would not be tried as one. Katie's father would probably want Steve to be prosecuted as an adult and given the highest jail sentence he could get for the crime. Or worse, if she died. No, that wouldn't be fair to Steve. Besides, he figured that Callie would be devastated if Steve were to be sent to prison.

Gosh Steve, he groaned. Do you know what you've gotten yourself into? Didn't you do your homework before kidnapping someone? That man has connections in high places, if you didn't realize. You're hardly a criminal and you're kidnapping Jack Ryan's daughter? All for such a stupid reason too!

He shook his head at the thought. He could hardly believe that he was doing this. Great. Ironic. You're trying to protect your kidnapper from judgment now. Way to go, Hardy, he chided himself sarcastically.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a stinging slap from a nearby room. Hurriedly, he made his way over.

The door was ajar and Frank had a full view of the room. His teeth gritted in anger as Steve, still in his mask delivered another slap on Katie's face. Do you know how much hurt you've caused Callie?" her assaulter screamed.

This was too much for Frank to handle. "Stop it!" he ordered, bursting into the room. He grabbed Steve's shoulder and spun him round, grabbing the mask off him. "What has she done to deserve this?" he demanded. Steve reeled in surprise, but recovered quickly enough. Angered, he shoved Katie hard against Frank, and glared fiercely at him.

Frank staggered backwards, catching hold of Katie as she crashed into him. Steve yanked his arm, and Frank lost his grip on the girl. She fell onto the floor with a painful cry.

"Katie!" Frank yelled almost at once. Ignoring Steve for a moment, he knelt down beside her. "Kate, are you hurt?" he asked, his voice anxious. "Sssh, don't cry," he hushed, as he helped her sit up in a more comfortable position. He had just started to undo her bonds when Steve grabbed his shoulder and swung him around.

"Beast! Do you know how much Callie misses you? And all you care is this girl? Do you know how much you're hurting her? You've caused a lot of hurt. Both to me and Callie."

"You? How did I ever hurt you?" asked Frank in bewilderment. "I didn't even try to win Callie back." He took a step back away from Steve, his eyes training on Steve.

"I had so much going for me," Steve said bitterly. "Until you came and ruined everything."

"How did I…" Frank started to ask, but seeing that Steve was about to go on, he stopped and let him continue.

"Why do you have to come back? Why do you have to ruin things for me in school? I was top in class until you came. I was supposed to be this year's quarterback, but they wanted you back. I was… "

Frank shook his head. "Steve…" he began. This guy was clearly losing it. He needed to talk some sense into him. "I was just doing my best. I didn't intend to fight with you.

"And for God's sake, I flunked last year. You think I like to fail? Geez, you talk as though I did it on purpose."

"I couldn't even date Callie properly without her sneaking glances at you," Steve went on. "Callie still loves you, Frank. And she misses you. But you kept hurting her, all because of this…" he threw a hateful look at Katie.

"Steve!" Frank's voice was sharp and firm this time. "Callie and I have broken up a long time ago. She was the one who wanted to, and Katie has nothing to do with it. In fact we've broken up even before she came to Bayport."

But Steve would not listen. Glowering at Frank, he curled his trembling hand into a fist and aimed a punch at Frank's jaw.

Instinctively, Frank's hand shot up. He grabbed Steve's arm and wrenched it down as he ducked the blow.

"Stop this nonsense," he shouted at Steve. "You're going to make things worse for yourself here. Just let us go."

"And let you call the police?" Steve snarled.

"I'm trying to save your ass from trouble, you idiot!" Frank lashed back. "If I wanted to call the police, I won't be here fighting with you." He couldn't believe this guy. Sure, they had tackled each other in school before, but it had been always on a football field. This was probably the first time they were fighting for real.

As Steve lunged forward again, Frank swung a fist at Steve's jaw, knocking him backwards. Steve staggered but only for a moment. He aimed a sharp kick at Frank, but Frank was ready for him. He caught hold of Steve's leg, and sent him reeling backwards. Desperate to save himself, Steve grabbed hold of Frank's neck, pulling him down onto the floor with him. The boys wrestled with one another on the floor, trying to pin each other down.

Steve was on top of Frank. He aimed a punch at Frank's head. Frank saw the punch coming and jerked his head to one side. Steve cried out in pain as his fist hit the floor instead.

Seizing the opportunity, Frank kicked up his knees and rolled Steve over, pinning him down with all his strength. He was about to give him a blow to knock him out, when someone grabbed his arm from behind. Another arm looped around his neck, pressing against his windpipe.

He did not even have to turn to know who the newcomer was. "Miller," he said through gritted teeth.

Frank tried to wrestle free, but Shane held him strongly. Frank pretended to go limp for an instant.

Then, without a warning, Frank drove his elbow backwards, jabbing it hard against Shane's ribs. Shane gasped in pain, and Frank lounged forward, breaking free from Shane's grasp. Seeing this, Steve pounced on him.

Frank's leg shot up and caught Steve the crotch. Steve gasped in pain and staggered backwards. Frank was about to deliver another blow to send him to the ground, when Shane delivered hard blow to the back on his head. Frank fell onto his knees, almost blacking out. He was fighting hard to keep himself awake, when he felt another blow at the back of his neck.


	17. The enemy's son

_Thanks to all who have reviewed. Sorry for the late update. We've been rather busy all last week. And also,it took us a while to decide whether to put up a Joe chapter or a Frank one. We've finally decided another one on Frank, and save Joe for later. _

Chapter 17:

Frank woke up to see Shane waving a pistol in front of Katie's face. He had blacked out after Shane gave him those blows to his head and neck. Her hands and feet were still tied, and so were his.

"Get up," ordered Shane, dragging Katie up to her feet, but she stubbornly refused to budge. Despite the circumstances, Frank couldn't resist a smile at the girl's resilience as she tried to squirm out of her captors grip – until Shane responded by slapping her hard across the cheek.

"Stop it!" Frank commanded. He struggled in his bonds to get at him. Shane shot him a menacing glare. Frank stared fixedly back, locking his eyes on his captor. "Leave her alone."

"I'll deal with you later, Hardy," Shane growled. He turned back to Katie. He traced her cheek with his gun. Katie shuddered.

"Why?" Frank pressed on, his detective instincts arousing. He had to understand why Shane was here. Steve yes, he understood that much. But Shane? He had a feeling it was more than just being buddies with Steve that Shane was here. Seeing that gun in his hands, he was sure Shane had a personal interest in Katie.

"What have you got against Katie? She hasn't done anything against you before. You hardly even know her."

"Hardly know you, do I?" Shane spat at Katie.

Katie was bewildered. "Why?" she choked. "I never even met you before." Her voice quivered a little. She didn't like the gun he was holding.

"Why," repeated Shane, and he gave a cruel high-pitched laugh. "Because you are Jack Ryan's daughter." He paused before continuing. "And I'm Sean Miller's son."

Katie gasped, recognizing the name 'Miller'. "What?"

"Twenty five years ago, your father killed my uncle. Two years ago, your _brother_ killed my father. And then they killed Ted, last year."

"Your father?" Frank asked incredulously. "All these while, I thought there's only you and Ted."

But Shane ignored him. He focused on Katie instead. "God, you're really pretty, aren't you?" he mocked her, tracing the girl's face with the gun. "What would daddy and brother dear say if they find you dead?" Katie flinched. She hadn't been born when her father shot Timothy Miller twenty five years ago, but she certainly remembered Sean Miller alright. It was just two years ago, when she was still back at Maryland.

"Your father and brother are adamant to wipe out all of the Miller family. Even Ted's life was not spared last year. I have no choice but to wipe out yours."

Frank stared fixedly at Shane. "Ted?" Ted was the cousin who ran the Rent-a-Car service. He had just died last year while on a trip to Maryland, and hence passing on the business to Shane. "Come on, Shane," he said quietly. "The doctors diagnosed that Ted died of heart failure. You asked me to look into the case, remember?"

Shane spun round and glared at him. "Shut up! You! You said you would look into the case. Why did you give it up?"

"Because there was nothing to look into! Ted died of heart attack!"

"Liar!" Shane spat. "He was drugged. Someone put something into his bloodstream!"

"The doctors could not find anything in his bloodstream, Shane. Everything was normal!"

"You don't expect me to believe that! Why would Ted would suddenly collapse and stop breathing? And in _Maryland_ too?" He glared at Katie.

"Well, I don't know why he fell. But that doesn't mean someone killed him," Frank tried to reason. His remark was met by Shane's cold hard glare.

"Whatever. They will die all the same. For Uncle, for Dad and for Ted"


	18. The surprising revelation

Chapter 18:

"I just spoke to Kyle on the phone this morning," said Vanessa to Joe, as they sat on the couch in the Hardy living room. "They have not heard from the kidnappers either."

Joe raised his eyebrows. "Kyle? Kyle who?"

"Kyle Ryan. Katie's younger brother. He's thirteen," Vanessa explained. "Katie has three siblings – an older sister, an older brother, and a younger brother."

"Oh right. The one in the junior high across town," Joe nodded, remembering the little he knew about Katie's family. He sighed dismally. So none of them had heard from the kidnappers. "I wonder what their motive is, if money is not their game," he mused.

"Possibly revenge. Either against me or Ryan," said a weary voice behind them. "We don't know which yet."

Joe and Vanessa turned behind to see Fenton Hardy standing next to the stair banister. He had just come out to the living room, and caught the last bit of his son's conversation with Vanessa. Worried frowns lined his face, and there were dark circles around his eyes. It was obvious that the older Hardy had not slept last night. He had been spending the whole night on the phone and on the computer in his study.

Joe sat up suddenly. "Dr. Ryan?" he queried, his eyes widening. "Why does anyone want revenge against him? You mean, he has enemies?" So Frank was right? Why in the world would a history professor have enemies?

His father nodded. "You bet he has, for the same reasons as I do. And he said so himself too. But as far as he knows, most of his enemies are dead. But then, you'll never know." He paused, then continued. "Come into my study. We'll talk inside. Vanessa may come too."

Joe and Vanessa rose and followed Mr. Hardy into his study. Shutting the door, Mr. Hardy gave them a recapitulation what they had known so far. "We know that Frank was last seen in front of Katie Ryan's house. Kyle Ryan, Katie's thirteen-year-old younger brother, saw him picking Katie up in your mother's car. As you know, the car was found off the main road, about ten minutes from her house. But no one had seen who ambushed them.

"I've checked with the Ryans. It seems that they have not heard from the kidnappers, or received any ransom letters either. And we are worried, considering that Ryan…"

Joe suddenly felt a horrible sensation in his gut, the suspicions that Frank had voiced out a couple days ago flashed back to his mind. "Dad, are you saying that.., that Katie's dad…" he interrupted, then trailed off, not knowing how to continue. "I mean… Frank's suspicions were right? Is that why Ryan took him? 'Cause Frank knew something?"

Fenton Hardy shook his head. "Let me finish, son. I'm not saying that Ryan has a hand in Frank's kidnapping." Why is everyone jumping into conclusions, he muttered inwardly. When Katie had failed to return home, the Ryans had first assumed that Frank was the cause of her disappearance. Where has your son taken my daughter, Ryan had demanded of him, when they met at the police station. It wasn't until Chief Collig had explained who the Hardy brothers were, before the man finally calmed down. And now, Joe is accusing the professor of the same crime…

Joe looked up at him, now a little confused at what his father was trying to say. "What I'm saying is that, there is a chance that the Ryans are the target of the kidnapping, as much as we are," the elder Hardy explained patiently.

"But why?" asked Joe, confused. "Why in the world would anyone want to kidnap Katie?"

"That's something we don't know yet," his father admitted. "We have been assuming all along that they wanted Frank, and they have taken Katie along because she happened to be with him. But with Jack Ryan being her father, it makes sense that it's also possible they actually planned to kidnap Katie." He paused, and looked up at his son before he continued. "Now, does the name John Patrick Ryan Sr., or his alias Jack Ryan Sr., ring a bell?"

Joe stared at his father, and gaped. "Not _that_ John Patrick Ryan Sr.?" he asked, suddenly realizing what his father was getting at. Yes, Katie's last name was Ryan, but…. no, they couldn't possibly be related, could they?


	19. The former president

Chapter 19:

Joe looked disbelievingly at his father. "You mean, the former President John Patrick Ryan? Some ten years back?"

The older Hardy nodded. "The one and the same. Katie is his daughter. She's the third child of President Ryan."

"No way!" Joe cried. "Katie? Former first daughter of the United States?" He shook his head again. "It just can't be." Fenton Hardy looked at his son, a little amused.

"How long have you known her?" he asked. "Surely you don't expect this to be told to you within two weeks."

"Uh huh," Vanessa nodded, remembering "Even back in Baltimore, Katie doesn't really talk or brag about it. She just smiled when we asked her. She doesn't try to impress herself on us."

Joe's eyes widened at his girlfriend's remarks. "What? You actually knew? And you never told me?"

"I suppose I've forgotten about it too. Until that day when you asked me about Katie," the girl admitted. "But even then, I couldn't tell you." She flashed an apologetic look at Joe. "Sorry, but I promised Katie I wouldn't tell. She – she doesn't want anyone to know.

"But I did tell you that she's not the one who would have kidnapped Frank. And her dad wouldn't either."

"Why doesn't she want anyone to know?"

Vanessa shrugged. "It's just her, I guess –." She paused, then continued. "I was only about ten or eleven when I first knew her back in Baltimore. Uncle Jack has already retired from office then. And like I said, she doesn't expect us to treat her differently. If anything, it makes her uneasy, actually."

Mr. Hardy nodded. "You kids were only toddlers when President Ryan took the office, taking over President Roger Durling when he passed on. And he only held the office for slightly over a term, before he chose to retire and passed the office to President Robert Jackson. But you girls only knew each other much later in grade school, after he retired. Katie isn't much affected by her dad's brief presidency stint. She was much too young then – I doubt she even remembers much of it. And despite the circumstances, the Ryans always made it a point that their kids were raised and given a childhood as normal as they can get. Plus, they have been trained from young not to talk or brag about it, for their own safety, obviously.

"But get this right," Fenton Hardy proceeded to relegate to them all he knew about the former President. "In the days before his President career, Ryan Sr. had a career stint in the CIA. He started as a consultant but his highest post was Deputy Director of Central Intelligence."

"And she told everyone her dad's a history teacher," Joe muttered.

Fenton Hardy chuckled. "She didn't lie. President Ryan _is_ a history teacher now. On the surface, at least. But it's true. He went back to teaching history after he retired from office, first at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland, and now in the Faculty of Criminology and Criminal Justice in Bayport University. But even that, it is only a cover to what he actually does; his real work in Bayport is overseeing the Barmet Marine Corps base, as well as the submarine base in Bayport. We all know that Ryan Sr. never retired completely."

"Hmm, I thought it's strange that such a prominent family would move from Baltimore to a little town like Bayport."

"Not really," replied his father. "Not if you consider President Ryan's work with the Marine Corps, and the fact he has been shuttling between Baltimore and Bayport in the past few years."

"Why would anyone want to kidnap the daughter of a former President?" asked Vanessa.

"No one might want to kidnap the daughter of a former President, especially one from ten years ago. But President Ryan might have made some enemies back while he was in the CIA. For the same reasons why people might want to kidnap you and Frank – revenge. In fact, that was one of the reasons why he moved his family to Bayport. His family suffered an attack back in Baltimore last year. He thought Bayport would be a safer place.

"That's why Chief Collig wanted to see me right away. With Frank and Katie both missing, he knew the urgency of it. This case is probably on the top of his list now."

Joe felt as if he was about to faint, his head swimming all these new information. "Does Frank know all about this?" he whispered.

"I think he does. I see he has been reading CIA web pages on my computer two nights ago. And most of the pages are related to Dr. John Patrick Ryan's career."

"So you mean he's in danger now?" he asked.

"That depends on who took them," was his father's calm reply.

"So do you know who took them yet?"

To his disappointment, his father shook his head wearily. "We don't. To be honest, their being kidnapped together has complicated matters. We don't even know if it's any enemy of mine, or of Ryan's, or of you and Frank." He paused. "Actually, we don't even know if it might be just someone who had a grudge on you guys in school. Looking at the number of possibilities, it could be _anyone_. But Jack Sr. and his son, Jack Junior, are looking into this too from their end. Hopefully, one of us manages to come out with something.

"And now, Joe, you have work to do."

_-xx-_

_p/s: No, we do not own President Jack Ryan Sr. nor his son Jack Junior, nor his wife, nor any of his kids. (all we did was made them grow up! the kids in the original Clancy novels were little tots.) We don't even own the president stuff nor the CIA thingy. Like we said before, (and maybe some of you might have already guessed from the names, e.g.: "Katie" and "Miller") Katie Ryan's a little crossover we borrowed. Well, Scrawler here is a great fan of Clancy, so yeah - they are all characters from Jack Ryan saga by Tom Clancy. And yes, we know that the Jack Ryan character is a little bit over the top, but heck, it was Clancy made him that way, not us._

_For more information of Jack Ryan – try en. wikipedia wiki/ Jack_Ryan_(Tom_Clancy). (You have to remove the spaces). We will be explaining a more of the background of the enmity between Ryan and Miller in a later chapter._

_Just a note on the Millers: The uncle (Timothy Miller) and the father (Sean Miller) does not belong to us. They are characters of Clancy's as well. We did, however, make up Ted and Shane Miller for the purpose of this story._


	20. The unexpected phone call

Chapter 20:

Joe Hardy stared at the list of names on the printed sheets of paper his father gave him, trying to look for a familiar name. The list contained the names and details of people who had crossed paths with the former President, as well as people who had crossed the Hardys. "See if you find anyone suspicious who might be in Bayport now," his father had told him.

The telephone rang. Joe, who was still studying the papers, grabbed the handset immediately. "Hardy Residence." he said, listening intently to what's on the other end.

Nothing was being said on the other end. Joe frowned. All he could hear was a girl crying over the phone. "Katie?" he asked cautiously. "Kate, is that you?" He couldn't make out who the caller was, but she appeared to be badly shaken. With a quick assumption that the caller was Katie, he tried again, a little gentler. "Kate? That you? Is Frank there?" His voice was laden with worry now. The sobs grew louder. Then there was a click, and then silence.

Callie was sobbing profusely as she replaced the handset. She was feeling utterly confused. And trapped. She knew she had messed up. In that one weak moment, she had let jealousy overrule her head, and she was now suffering the consequences. But was it completely her fault? While Shane did once express the notion about abducting Katie, he had never said anything about kidnapping Frank. He had claimed that Katie was an ex-girlfriend, who had not only cheated on him, but took his money as well. It was just a personal matter between him and Katie, Shane had claimed, and all he wanted was to teach her a lesson. Before she did the same to another guy…

It had sounded logical at that time, and the idea suited her, somehow. Especially if they could get Katie away from Frank. She was already deeply upset over Frank's new friendship with Katie, and the idea that the girl was just going to cheat on him one day only made it all the more revolting. But even then, she had never imagined that Shane would really follow it through. She had been surprised to overhear Steve's phone conversation that night, and shocked when Vanessa reported that Frank was missing as well, Only then did she realize that something didn't quite add up. And when she actually found Frank in that room, she had a strange suspicion that she was being lied to…

Still – she couldn't believe that Steve was involved in this. Perhaps Steve was being deceived too…

Callie did not have the courage to call the police as Frank had instructed, so she had called Joe instead. Her hand was trembling. But the moment she heard Joe's anxious voice on the other end, she just couldn't bring herself to speak to him. She knew Joe would be furious when he heard what she had to say.

Perhaps they might let them go after a day or two, she whispered hopefully. But deep down inside, she felt dreadful. No, she had to tell them about Shane. Frank would hate her all the more if she didn't…

Wiping her tears, she gathered her courage and reached for the telephone once more. She dialed Vanessa's cell number this time.

"What?" Vanessa's voice was filled with disbelief at what Callie had told her. "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" she demanded. "No, Callie, you should talk to Joe. He'd want to hear this." Flabbergasted, she shook her head and passed her cell phone to her boyfriend, who took it with a questioning frown.

When Callie repeated her story to Joe, the younger Hardy almost exploded. "Callie!" he bellowed into the phone. "I called you to ask if any of you had seen Frank! And _you_ said no!" His words were answered by a few sobs at the other end and he lost his patience.

"Look, stop crying and tell me where they are," he demanded. The sobs grew louder. Joe sighed impatiently.

"Alright. Stay where you are," he snapped. "I'll come over right now, and you show me the way there." He ended the call, and headed for the door with Vanessa.

_-xx-_

"Stay here," Joe told Vanessa as he parked the car is a secluded spot, half hidden by wild undergrowth among the huge oak trees. They were at the manor where Frank and Katie were taken. Set on the edge of the woods just outside Bayport, it was part of the long-forgotten, old Miller estate.

"Be careful," Vanessa whispered back, glancing nervously up at the house. A shiver ran down her spine. The building looked cold and desolate, and she found it rather sinister now that they had come so close. Two blackbirds flew up with a loud cry, making her jump in alarm. Joe reached for Vanessa's hand and gave her a squeeze.

"We'll be fine. We're just going in and get them out of there," he assured her. He handed his girlfriend back the car keys. It was Vanessa's car that they had been driving. "Drive off if there's any danger. Don't wait."

Vanessa nodded. "We?"

"Me and Callie," he answered. "Yes. You're coming in with me," he addressed Callie in a steely voice, without turning to look at her.

"And uh, Vanessa," he continued. "Ring the police if I don't get back in twenty minutes." At that, Callie shot him a pleading look, but Joe ignored it. "Come on, let's not waste any more time."

Silently, Joe made his way towards the dark, dreary mansion, with Callie close behind him. The building was humongous. He decided not to use the main door. Finding an open window near the back, he peered in for any signs of movement. When he was sure that there was no one about, he motioned for Callie and they climbed in. The house was eerie and silent. They crept noiselessly about the house, keeping to the darker shadows. It was not too difficult a thing to do, for there was no lighting. And seeing how unused the place was, they doubted there was even any electricity.


	21. The long bitter enmity

Chapter 21:

_A possibly boring chapter. Some background from Tom Clancy's Patriot Games to give you guys an insight to the long, bitter Ryan-Miller enmity._

_-xx-_

"No-ooo!" Frank gasped in horror as Shane Miller grabbed hold of Katie's jaw.

The young girl whimpered and tried to scream as her captor shoved the barrel of his gun into her mouth. Instantly she froze; too petrified to struggle any further. She shut her eyes in terror as drops of tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Shane! Please! NO," Frank's tensed voice came again, almost choking. He felt sick at the sight of the gun in the girl's mouth. Shane Miller shot him a look of disgust.

"This was what her dad did to mine a long time ago. I'm just returning the deed," Miller's voice was tight and laced with hatred. Some twenty-five years ago, that was exactly how Jack Ryan Sr. and Sean Miller stood on the deck of Baltimore Harbor, with Jack Ryan holding a gun in the senior Miller's mouth.

Neither Shane nor Katie was in this world yet to witness the incident, but they had sure heard about it from their families. It had been a long history between the two families, ever since Jack Ryan, long before his presidency days, had by chance, foiled an assassination attempt on the Prince of Wales while he was vacationing in London. Timothy and Sean Miller, both members of the Ulster Liberation Army, then, were leading the attack on the royal family and the Senior Ryan had pulled two gunshots onto Timothy Miller's chest, killing him right on the spot. Sean Miller had been captured by the authorities and sentenced to life imprisonment, but he later escaped while on his way to Albany Prison, with some help from his fellow ULA members.

That incident sparked the beginning of the bitter enmity between the two families, Sean Miller and the ULA had launched a couple attacks in the year that followed. The attacks were partly to avenge his Timothy Miller's death, and partly also to undermine public and specifically American support for the IRA, as the ULA had wanted take over the IRA leadership. In the first attack, Miller had seriously injured Ryan's wife, and almost killed his eldest daughter, Sally. (Sally was Ryan's first-born, and his only child back then.) Nine months later, the ULA made a second attack, and the enmity was almost put to rest for good, when the authorities caught up with Miller on the decks of Baltimore Harbor.

_You don't talk to snakes… you kill snakes…_

_CIA analyst Jack Ryan had reached Sean Miller on the decks before the Marines and the state troopers arrested him. In his anger for the injuries that Miller had caused his wife and daughter, he had pushed Miller back against the metal wall of a container, his forearm across the man's neck. Savoring the feel of the man's throat on his wrist, he had brought up the pistol and forced it into Sean's mouth. His eyes bored into Sean's as he tightened his finger on the trigger…_

And now, a little more than twenty-five years later, young Shane Miller was doing to Katie Ryan just what her father did to his. The girl sat paralyzed in fear, feeling Shane's grip on her throat, and the cold gun metal against the wall of her mouth.

Next to Katie, Frank Hardy swallowed. "But her father – he didn't shoot, did he?" he asked Shane. No, he answered his own question. The older Miller had lived long enough to father a son, so Ryan Sr. could not have pulled the trigger then. Also, Shane did say something about his father being shot by Katie's brother just two years ago. So, by some way or other, Sean Miller must have escaped death, as well as jail time.

Frank looked at Shane cautiously. His voice had sounded calm, but his stomach was all in knots. His heart was in his throat and he felt like heaving. But there was nothing he could do. Even the slightest movement might drive Shane to pull the trigger, and blow the girl's brains out. No, the only thing he could do now is to keep talking, and hope that all the talk would distract Shane and prevent him from being too trigger-friendly.

Shane Miller threw him a dirty glance.

"Were you the one who blew up my van too?" Frank asked, making a divert to maneuver for time by prolonging the conversation.

"Your van!" Shane gave a mocking laugh "Everyone thinks it's your van that got bombed, even the police. Believe me, it was a perfect cover up when things didn't work according to plan. No one knew I was after the Ryans. But no, Frank. It wasn't your van. It was her car. It was supposed to blow her up on her way home. She was just lucky she wasn't in it. Your van caught fire when the car blew up, not the other way round. Fortunately, no one knew."

"You beast!" cried Frank in his mind. All the same he bit hard on his tongue, not wanting to provoke Shane in any way.

"Okay, enough of talk now," Shane said, and he cocked the gun.

_-xx-_

_p/s: We don't own the Prince, nor the ULA, nor the assassination attempt, nor anything that happened twenty-five years ago; not even the gun Jack Ryan held in Sean Miller's mouth. We only own the present conditions surrounding Frank, Shane and Katie. _


	22. The hall outside

Chapter 22:

Frank's body tensed at the click of the gun. He was beginning to feel pretty freaked out himself. Here was a friend he had just gotten close to, and she would soon be blown to a gruesome death right next to him. He was beginning to wonder if either of them would get out of this alive.

He knew that he would be the next victim once Shane had gotten rid of Katie. Though Shane probably did not have anything against him before, he sure did now. Frank Hardy was a victim and a primary witness to what would happen in this manor, and there was no way that Shane was going to release him.

Of course, his dad and Joe were probably already looking for him. And he had no doubt that John Patrick Ryan was looking for his daughter as well, probably with the help of the entire police force in Bayport too. But even if the entire world came to their aid, there was no way how anyone could get both of them out alive. He might get out of this unhurt if he were lucky, but Katie? At the very least, she would get her head blown off before anyone could get their hands on Shane. No, he had to think of ways to at least get that gun withdrawn from her mouth.

Suddenly, a crash sounded in one of the back rooms, and the gunned captor loosened his grip from his victim's throat, yanking the gun out her mouth in the same abrupt manner that he had shoved it in. Already faint from fear and terror, Katie fell backwards, her head smacking against the wall behind her as her breath came out in huge gasps. Frank's eyes followed cautiously as Shane crossed the room and flung open the door, unaware that he too, was breathing deeply. There were some sounds of scuffle followed by a thud, and then,… silence.

As soon as Shane stepped out of the door, Frank turned his gaze back to the terrified girl beside him. She was quivering slightly, her face dreadfully pale, and her blue eyes were still wide from fear. Seeing that she was too petrified even to cry, he moved his bonded hands slowly behind their backs, in search of hers. As he reached her cold clammy fingers, he gripped them lightly, and gave her hand a slight tug.

_-xx-_

Just across the hallway in another room, Joe Hardy had slipped up to Steve Taylor without being noticed, and tackled him off guard. He and Callie had gone on slightly separated ways ever since they stepped in from one of the kitchen windows. Joe's sharp ears had caught a slight noise from one of the rooms and had gone to take a look, leaving Callie in the hall outside.

Steve had his back to him when Joe entered noiselessly into the room. He delivered a swift blow to the back of Steve's head, knocking him off the chair he was sitting on and sending him to the ground. That was the crash that was heard. Before the young criminal realized what was happening, Joe hauled the guy up, and delivered another blow to his jaw, knocking him unconscious. Good, there is a key, he observed. Pulling the door shut, he turned the lock and pocketed the key. Steve can sit in there until the police found him later, he thought silently.

Now, where has Callie gone to? wondered Joe, as he made his way down the hall, still keeping within the dark shadows. He didn't have to wonder long, however, for her shriek suddenly pierced through the darkness, startling him out of his skin. Hurriedly, the blond teen pressed himself back against the wall next to the hall cupboard. The huge piece of furniture shielded him from immediate view. Hell, whatever would have made her shriek like that? A mouse? he wondered, a little annoyed. Why, she would startle the entire house next. Joe scowled. Callie had better have good reasons for shrieking out loud like that, or else…

Peering out from where he was standing, he realized that Callie sure had a reason to scream. The girl just couldn't help it, for one thing. She was somewhere down the hall looking around for Joe, when Shane Miller flung open the door and marched right up to her, his teeth gritting in anger. She could swear that the young man's gray eyes were as hard as stone as they bore into her own brown ones. Then grabbing her wrist, the young man hauled her towards the room he had just come out from.

Joe's first thought had been to jump Shane and tackle him, but when he caught sight of the gun waving in Shane's other hand, he quickly held back. He waited for a moment until Shane had his back to him before stepping out from his hiding place.


	23. The second fight

Chapter 23:

"Hey, don't cry," Frank whispered against her hair. He desperately wished he could hold her and comfort her, but his hands were bound tightly behind him. He gave her hand another squeeze, restraining the urge to kiss her golden head. There was no time for that. "I need you to pull yourself together," he said, desperately tugging at the knots on her wrists. "We need to get out of here."

The younger girl swallowed. Frank's calm voice had been soothing, snapping her out of her shock. At the slight tug of her hand earlier, she had broken down and sobbed onto Frank's strong, sturdy shoulder. Now, at Frank's urgent whisper, her sobs had quickly subsided, and she gave a brave nod.

"Good," Frank replied, approvingly. "I'm going to untie your hands," But even as he tugged at the knots that bound her wrists, the door burst open again, startling them both.

Instantly, Katie jerked herself away from Frank and snapped herself upright. Frank felt his muscles grow taut again as Shane dragged Callie into the room and pushed her towards where they were sitting.

The dark haired Hardy found his voice first. "Callie!" he cried in a hoarse whisper. Callie lost her balance as she stumbled over Katie's feet, and fell down beside them. Shane lifted his gun.

"I don't care if you're Steve's girlfriend or not. I hate busybodies," Shane snapped in a most dangerous tone, aiming the weapon straight at Callie.

"Nooooo!" cried Joe, suddenly rushing into the room. He was just outside the door as Shane was speaking. He leapt onto Shane, smacking the gun out of his hands and shoving him to the floor, just as a shot rang out. The girls screamed. Joe struggled with Shane on the floor, pinning him down. Suddenly, Shane managed to wrench free and arm and swung wildly towards his head. Joe dodged, and grabbed hold of Shane's hand as it came near, twisting it all the way until the bone snapped. He was about to deliver a blow to knock Shane unconscious when an urgent voice stopped his heart cold.

"Frank!" Callie's voice was frantic. "Frank, please tell me you're alright," she pleaded, bending over him.

Frank had, on instinctive reaction, slammed his side against the two girls, shoving them a little to the side when the gun went off, but he had not managed to get out of the way himself. The bullet had hit him somewhere below the collarbone near the shoulder. The dark haired teen slumped back onto the wall as a burning pain seared through him.

"See if you can untie Katie's hands," Frank whispered to her, fighting the grogginess that was beginning to wave over him. "Get her out of here."

"Yours…"

Frank shook his head, groaning as even the slightest movement brought him unbearable pain. "Don't move me… hurts too much…" he managed to say, before the darkness took him over completely.

_Frank… He got hit… _Joe realized, as he caught sight at he bloodstain on his brother's shirt. Even as he stared, the stain was growing rapidly, and he noticed that Frank's eyes were shut. Though he badly wanted to rush to his brother's side, he somehow managed to get a grip and ordered himself to stay calm. There's no time for that, he told himself; or we'll be all dead.

"Joeeeee!" Callie screamed suddenly. Joe looked up, just in time to see Shane taking a swipe at him. The guy had gotten up from the floor in that split second Joe shifted his attention to his brother. Hurriedly, he sprang to the side, ducking the blow.

Before he could even plan on his next move, he heard a click. Turning, he saw that Shane had retrieved the pistol from the floor with his good arm, and was now waving it menacingly at Joe.

Gun pointing forward, he motioned for Joe to move, backing him up against the wall. Silently, Joe held his palms up in obedience.

The two boys locked gazes for an instance. Joe's fiery blue eyes met Shane's cold, hard glare. Clenching his fists, Joe braced himself to leap aside as Shane took aim.

There is a chance that he might miss, he thought hopefully, not taking his eyes off Shane and his gun. Shane was handling the pistol with his left hand, as his dominant arm – his right arm – was injured. Shane lifted the gun a little higher, now aiming it at Joe's chest.

"Right," a voice spoke from the doorway. "Shoot."


	24. The black haired brother

_Posting all the last 3 chapters at one go. We hope it will not disappoint anyone though…_

_-xx-_

Chapter 24:

"Shoot any of them and I'll give you the most painful death you can get," The voice was hard and even.

All eyes turned to the doorway, wondering who the newcomer was. A young man stepped into the room, pointing a semi-automatic in the direction of Shane's chest. Neither Joe nor Callie had seen him before. Joe looked at him and judged him to be about twenty-five.

"Jack!" gasped Katie, recognizing her older brother instantly. With his jet black hair and deep blue eyes, Jack Ryan Jr. was an image of what the former President Jack Ryan Senior had looked like twenty-something years ago.

The young man did not acknowledge his sister, though he did briefly glance at her pale face. He took another step into the room, his eyes and Glock fixing on Shane.

Shane shot him a look of disgust. He, too, had recognized the young Jack. Jack Ryan Junior was the man who shot his father two years ago. There was no way he could forget that.

"Junior Ryan," his voice was filled with contempt. His hand shook a little. Deep down inside, he knew better than to challenge this guy. There was no way he could get his hands on all his victims now, not with Jack pointing that thing at his heart. The most he could do was to try a shot at Joe, and he would be a goner.

_And Joe wasn't even the one he wanted, though he had no problems killing him if he had to…_

"The name's Jack," the young Jack corrected him. "And don't try. Unless you want a life of hell," he warned.

Ryan Jr. was not exactly a murderer. He never did kill people for fun or for money, but when circumstances warranted them, he made no reservations about it either. To put it simply, he could kill someone and live with it, if they deserved them. But of course, he wasn't stupid. He would either do it smart, or not do it at all.

"You're not going to jail today," Jack thought, tightening his finger on the trigger as he leveled his gun on Shane. Since Shane had a pistol in his hands too, it gave him perfectly good reason to shoot. A man with a gun in the same room is an immediate and lethal threat. And Jack knew he could get away with this – call it self defense, or whatever.

Suddenly, and without warning, Shane switched the aim of his gun from Joe to Jack. A bad mistake. Joe, leaping at the chance, moved swiftly. He grabbed Shane's wrist and dragged him backwards, forcing his arm into an awkward angle that pointed towards the window. His other hand came down with a forceful blow onto Shane's neck, causing Shane to release his grip on the gun. As the gun clattered onto the floor, Joe hurriedly made a swipe at it with his foot, sending it to the far corner of the room.

What the…? Jack cursed, clearly flustered. Whatever did he do that for? Well, he could understand why Joe disarmed the guy, of course, though he didn't like it one bit. Joe's quick actions had just wrecked his chance of lodging a bullet in his opponent's heart.

He wasn't ready to lower his Glock though. Miller had to die. If he didn't die today, he would be after their family again when he gets out of prison later. He lifted his gun again, ready to pull the trigger at the next sign of struggle.

"No, don't," came a voice, and a hand landed on Jack's shoulder. "Let the police handle it." Looking towards his right, Jack saw Fenton Hardy next to him and scowled. The private investigator had come into the room silently with Ryan Sr. and Chief Collig, along with Con Riley, as well as a few other plainclothesmen.

Chief Collig tapped Jack's arm, a signal that the young man should put away his gun. "We'll have him behind bars in no time," he said, gesturing to where Con Riley and the rest of the police officers had surrounded the young criminal. Jack Junior scowled at the police chief, and lowered his gun reluctantly.

"Frank!" Joe rushed over to his brother. Callie, who had managed to untie Frank's wrists, and had, now, his hand linked in hers, scooted away hurriedly to make way for the frantic younger Hardy. As Joe dropped onto his knees, he reached for Frank's neck, searching for a pulse. Finding a weak one, he sighed in relief. The older teen's breathing was labored, his face as white as a sheet. "Frank, hang on," Joe murmured softly, easing his brother's head onto his lap. Fenton Hardy shot his younger son a reprimanding look. He would have a lot to say to this son of his later. How dare he come after Frank without first telling him? And without backup too! Why, he could have been killed!

"The paramedics are outside," Jack Jr. told him, slicing through his sister's bonds with a knife of his own. "Hush, Kate." He gathered the girl in his arms, as she clung to him, sobbing. "You're safe now. Mom's outside too, with the paramedics."

Joe slid an arm beneath Frank, and held his brother tenderly as Fenton Hardy carefully cut off the ropes around his older son's feet, before the paramedics moved him onto a stretcher.

Ryan Sr. walked over to where Shane was being handcuffed by Con Riley. "I should have shot his father years ago when I had the chance," he muttered. If only he had, Shane would not have existed to create havoc on his family.

But he hadn't. Jack Ryan Sr. had pulled his gun out from Sean Miller's mouth, and allowed him to be arrested, and he had regretted it ever since. Though Sean Miller was arrested and sentenced to capital punishment, he escaped and fled the country two days later while he was transported to Baltimore City Jail. The ULA had staged a massive attack, killing most of the police officers on the job that day. After that, the convict had disappeared, returning to the United States only twenty years later, long after Ryan retired from presidency. And he had been keeping his eye on the Ryan family since, until Jack Junior shot him through the heart when he attacked their home in Maryland…

_-xx-_

_p/s: Note that in Patriot Games, Miller's career with the ULA ended with his arrest. Nothing was being said about him after that. We added his escape, and his return for the purpose of this story._


	25. The hospital

Chapter 25:

"Come on, big brother, wake up," Joe murmured quietly, clasping his brother's hand.

The brothers were at Bayport General Hospital. Frank had just been out of surgery, and had been asleep for the past six hours. His condition was stable, but he had lost a lot of blood, and was rather weak.

"Stupid Callie," Joe scowled, muttering silently to himself. "If only she had called the police..." He shook his head furiously. Now that Steve had been taken into custody, he wondered if Frank would get back with her. Knowing how forgiving Frank could be if he wanted to, there was a possible chance. And knowing how much Frank loved Callie…

_If_ he _still_ loved Callie, Joe amended silently. And _if_ he still hadn't gotten over her yet. He sure didn't feel generous right now, not with his brother unmoving on the bed. He sighed. Oh well, if Frank wanted her…

Exhausted, he folded his arms, resting them on the edge of the mattress and laid his head on them.

He woke up to feel something brush against his hair. He looked up sleepily. "Wha…t?" he mumbled, reaching up. A hand? Frank's hand?

"Frank! When did you wake up?" he asked, straightening up and laying Frank's hand gently back on the bed.

His brother flashed him a weak smile. "Just."

"How are you feeling?" Laura Hardy asked her son. She was sitting on the other side of the bed with the boys' father.

"Thick. Woozy," Frank replied, blinking at the light around him. "What happened?" Laying back, he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to ignore the pounding in his head.

"So how did you find us, Dad?" Frank asked, when he opened his eyes again. "And how's Katie?"

Joe laughed and shook his head. "One question at a time! Geez, Frank, whatever did they dose you with?" he joked. "You seem to have gotten a dose of _my_ impatience. Hyper!" He looked at Frank with a straight face, a mischievous gleam in his blue eyes.

"Katie… well, she's dead…"

"_What?_" Frank's eyes widened, and he struggled to sit up, the color draining from his already pale face –

just as their mother's voice rang out.

"Joe!" Laura reprimanded her youngest. Her husband gave an involuntary snort.

"Stop feeding your brother nonsense." Fenton placed a hand on Frank's good shoulder to restrain him from getting up. He shot Joe a reproachful glare. "Katie is _not_ dead. She's fine." Frank slumped back onto the bed with a sigh of relief.

Joe grinned back at his father. He gave a brief sketch of what happened after Frank had blacked out, and his brother nodded. "As for how Dad found us, I have no idea," he said ruefully. They had all gotten so worried about Frank, that he had forgotten to ask.

"Well, I didn't," Fenton Hardy replied. "Little Jack did. He was looking into this case too. He obtained a list of everyone in Bayport and came across Miller's name. Obviously, he put two and two together. We were still trying to figure out where Miller took you, when Vanessa rang me on my cell, telling me that you boys might be in trouble. Speaking of that – both Shane and Steve are in police custody now. Con Riley may be along to get your statement later." Joe beamed at the mention of Vanessa's name while Frank merely nodded.

"Like your father said, Katie's fine," their mother interrupted, smiling at Frank. "She's in a room upstairs. They want to keep her here a day or two for psychological observation."

"Is she badly hurt?"

"She's fine, physically, except for a broken ankle and some bruises. She was still in a shock when they first brought her in, but she's recovering."

"Yeah, what Shane did to her was horrible," Frank shuddered, remembering. "Shane – he…"

"Shane will be tried as an adult, evidently," Mr. Hardy told him. "But Steve has not had his eighteenth birthday, so I suppose he will be tried as a minor."

"Dr. Ryan is allowing that?"

"Yes. Steve had no intention to kill you guys, apparently. It has been Shane's idea from the start. Seems like he has been plotting revenge on the Ryans for quite a while. When he found out that Steve held a grudge against you, he approached Steve and offered to get you out of the way as well. To give you a scare, so to speak. Of course, it was a ploy. Shane needed muscle strength, and he made use of Steve's grudge against you.

"When Steve knew you recognized him, he wanted out, but Shane wouldn't allow him to leave. That explained why he was in the room that Joe found him in. Apparently, he was feeling dizzy – Shane had drugged him with sleeping pills to keep him on the premises."

Frank shuddered. So Shane was more dangerous than he had realized. And to think he had been friends with the guy for the most of high school. Well, at least Steve wasn't as bad as he had thought.

"Shane confessed to all these?"

"Once Steve spilled everything out to the cops, he had no choice but to confess. But of course, the police had to use some force."

Suddenly, Joe got up and went to the door. He opened it slightly, peeked out, and shut it again. Frank looked at his brother quizzically.

"Uh, Frank, I forgot to tell you. Callie's outside. Do you want to see her?"

The brief mention of Callie's name brought a stab in his heart, and he closed his eyes, "No. I…" Frank trailed off, as he replayed their conversation back at the old Miller mansion. He wasn't really sure if he could forgive Callie for that, and he wasn't exactly ready to face the girl. But all the same, he wondered what she wanted. Finally, he took a deep breath, and nodded slowly.

"Okay, let her in."


	26. The apology, the thanks & the fire truck

Chapter 26:

"Uhm Joe, don't go," said Frank, as Joe was about to follow their parents out of the room. For some reason, he needed Joe's reassuring presence. Joe looked over at his brother, a little hesitant.

"Err…" He shifted his gaze uncertainly from Frank to Callie, who had just come in from the door. He didn't exactly want to leave his brother alone with Callie, but he wasn't sure if he should stay either.

"It… It's alright," Callie said quietly, noticing Frank's detached manner. "I… I just want to apologize."

"For?"

"For… for not calling the police." she said softly, looking nervously at Frank's impassive face. Frank did not look angry at all, but Callie did not know what to make of his expression. If anything, Frank just looked… distant, his usually calm face devoid of emotion.

"You don't need to apologize to me for that," Frank replied stiffly, his voice as dry and emotionless as he looked. Callie winced. Joe laid a hand on Frank's shoulder – calming, reassuring.

"I do. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if…"

Frank shook his head. "You don't," he said obstinately, still in the same flat voice. "You came to get me, remember? I was the one who didn't want to leave. So as far as that is concerned, you're fine. You don't need to apologize."

"Don't. Don't say I don't need to. Please. I owe you an apology,… at least, for the injury. You wouldn't have gotten injured if I had gone to the police in the first place" Callie pleaded, almost in tears. She could tell that Frank was still hurt, and probably angry, over the whole matter, though he wasn't showing it. The cold, detached voice said it all – and it was obvious that he was trying to conceal his feelings.

"Please, Frank. I… I'm sorry, I really am," said Callie in a small voice. "I just… I didn't know what I was thinking…"

Frank was silent a long moment, then nodded slowly. "I guess I could forgive you. But…"

As he trailed off, Callie looked up anxiously. But?

"After all these, I don't know. I don't know if we can be close again, or even friends," Frank continued quietly. "It's over, Callie. You know that. And it's going to take a while for the friendship to mend." _If_ it ever mends, he didn't add.

Callie nodded meekly. So he said it. Friendship. Well, she couldn't really expect anything else, after all that. She had hurt him deeply this time, and she knew it too. But at least that's a start…

"You must apologize to Katie too,"," Frank told her. "You owe her that – much more than you owe me. She almost got killed, because of you and Steve."

Callie chewed her lip. This was going to be difficult. She did not know Katie very well, so naturally she would feel rather awkward apologizing to her. But she nodded anyway.

"That reminds me," mused Frank, when Callie had left the room. "I need to see Kate."

"Later, brother," Joe replied affectionately. "You are supposed to rest first. Doctor Bates will kick me out of here if I wheel you upstairs now. Don't worry, she's fine. Vanessa's with her. And so is her family."

It turned out that Frank did not have to go up, for Vanessa had wheeled Katie down in her wheelchair later that evening.

"I guess I ought to thank you," Katie said. "For…uh…" she trailed off, faltering. She bit her lip, not exactly knowing how to phrase her thoughts. Frank's presence had been a comfort the past two days while they were being held by Shane. And not to mention the fact that he was looking out for her all the while.

"For all the help, I guess. And for watching out for me when Shane got a bit too rough..." She looked up with a grateful smile. "Thanks awfully."

Frank shot her a look. "A _bit_ too rough?" He really didn't know whether to be amused or not. If Joe had a knack for exaggerating things, then this girl was sure one for understating them. "Geez, Kate. You call that a _bit_?" Katie gave a rueful grin.

"Mmm… I guess, you being there helped a lot, really. I would certainly have freaked out if I were alone" she continued softly, flushing a little. "I… I'm sorry that you got involved though – and that you got hurt…"

Frank laid a gentle hand on the armrest of her wheelchair. Her hands were a little out of his reach. "Hey, don't be sorry. It isn't your fault," he told her softly. "You're not responsible for what Shane did. And anyway, I'm fine. " He glanced at her feet. "Your leg is okay?"

Katie smiled. "Yeah. It is. Thanks," she said, downplaying the severity again. "I just need to give it a lot of rest, and lots of ice."

"That's good," said Frank, surveying her face. Their eyes met briefly as she looked up, and the girl averted her gaze hurriedly, suddenly feeling her cheeks burn. Frank too, swallowed, and darted his eyes away, studying the stark whiteness of the walls instead. Joe caught their brief exchange, and shook his head. Great. The shy meets the bashful, he groaned.

"Oh yeah, Dad said he's sorry about your van," Katie said, finding her voice at last. She pulled out a van catalog tucked behind her back, and handed it over. "It's somewhat our fault that your van got blown up, so Dad says he'll be replacing it. I think he's having a word with your dad about it now."

"Wow, cool!" Joe exclaimed, leafing through the catalog. "What are we supposed to do? Pick one from here?"

"Uh huh," nodded Katie. "Just let my dad know when you've decided."

"Must it be a van?" Joe asked quickly, with a grin. "Can we have a car instead? Say, a sports convertible?" He gave Vanessa a wink.

Frank chuckled. "No. Even if her Dad is willing to pay for it, I'd say no. We need to do stake-outs sometimes, don't forget. We can't have anything too flashy."

"Spoil sport," Joe grumbled, giving his brother a mock scowl, which the older teen pretended not to notice.

"Well, tell your Dad, 'thanks', okay?" said Frank to Katie. He took the booklet from Joe. "I think I'll do the selecting here, before someone gets carried away with all those fancy cars. We want a regular-looking van, and best if it's black, blue or gray."

"Awful, dreary, boring colors," Vanessa commented.

Frank shrugged. "Well, for stake-outs, you need to blend in with the surroundings." To emphasize his point, he flipped the catalog to a page showing a flashy, purple SUV. "And if you are being tailed, you wouldn't want to be driving a homing beacon."

They chatted for a while more, before Katie finally broke her news.

"Uh… I have something to tell you guys," she said hesitatingly. "My mom… she's pulling me out of Bayport High. She doesn't think it's safe for me there." Her eyes clouded as she looked up at her friends.

"There's no where perfectly safe for anybody," Frank said softly.

"So where are you going? A strong room?" Joe teased. Vanessa elbowed him with a frown.

"Yeah, a strong room," Katie nodded, her face glum. "I'm going to be home-schooled. Until the end of the year. It's no fun, really. Worse than being grounded."

"Well, yeah, that sucks," Frank agreed with a sigh. "But cheer up. You're still going to be in Bayport, right? We can still keep in touch. Don't worry, we'll spring you from prison from time to time." He gave the girl a wink.

_-xx-_

"She's a sweeet girl, huh?" Joe grinned at Frank, as they watched the two girls depart.

"Who? Vanessa? You said that a million times before," Frank replied, playing dumb.

"Well, yes! Vanessa's a great gal, of course. But come on. You know I wasn't referring to her. So, you're gonna spring her from prison huh? For a date? I _knew_ you were dying to ask her out. Ever since you treated her sprain…"

Ever since you teased her for being a geek, and she shook my hand and gave me that grin, Frank admitted silently. No, if he was completely honest with himself – ever since his heart constricted when he saw her pale, unhappy face when they were in that room with Liz Webling. Not so much as wanting to ask her out; but if circumstances permitted, or if he had known her longer, he would have crossed the room and pulled her into a hug. But of course, he wasn't going to tell Joe that…

So, he pretended not to hear his brother. Instead, he turned his attention back to the van catalog and flipped the pages. "Hmm," he mused aloud, purposefully ignoring Joe's comment. As much as he cared for the girl, he was also aware that the chances of seeing her again were pretty slim, now that she was leaving school. Maybe they could talk her parents out of the home-school idea…

Pushing all thoughts of the girl from his mind, he tried to concentrate on the task at hand – selecting their next van. "Hm, this black one doesn't look too bad. Or that gray one…" he mused.

"Uh-uh!" Joe countered almost at once. "This red one looks way cooler. Sporty!" He jabbed his finger at a signal-red SUV further down the page. Frank rolled his eyes, and smacked the catalog on his brother's arm.

"Joe, we're not looking for a fire truck, okay?" he scolded. Joe grinned annoyingly back at him.

"Geez. How could you ever call it a fire truck, Frank? Just look at the headlamps! It's gorgeous! We'll take this one." His mischievous blue-eyes were flashing vividly at his brother, as if challenging the older boy to argue.

"No way!"

"Yes way." Grinning.

"Nope!"

"Yes!" Nodding.

"Forget it, Joe! I'm not driving a fire truck all over town!"

"No one says you need to. _I'll_ drive." Jerked his thumb at himself and grinned mischievously again.

"Over my dead body."

"Aww, why?"

"We're not getting that one. And that's final."

"But why not?" A whine.

"Why?" Frank resisted the urge to clobber his brother on the head. "I've already told you! Stake-outs!"

"So? We'll do our stake-outs in a fire truck." And gleefully stuck his tongue out.

"Joe!" An exasperated groan escaped his lips.

"Okay okay. Black. We'll spray it black then."

This time, Frank double-took. "_What?_" he spluttered. Now where did that come from? You wanna get a red van, then spray it black? Brand new?

Joe's laughter echoed around the room. Suddenly the door creaked open and a nurse's stern voice floated in. "Boys, be quiet there, please. This is a hospital…"

**The End**_._

_-xx-_

_A/N: So, we're finally done with our first fanfic. Thank you for reading. We hope you enjoyed the story. (and we hope we didn't disappoint anyone here.) For those who have read and reviewed, thanks again for your reviews. Your kind words of support have been a great encouragement to us._

_Sorry about Callie. We don't actually hate her. On the contradictory, we rather liked her, though we'd prefer to see her more as an individual and a character, rather than just being Frank's girlfriend._

_So we're toying with the idea of a second story – that continues from here, maybe to bring Callie back as a bigger character. The only problem is, we're lacking a good mystery plot for it. We'll write it as soon as we come up with a good case for them… and as soon as we have the time._

_By the way, we're renaming the title to Hatred Games. Think it sounds better._

_Cheers!_


End file.
